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Demand for cooking fuels in a developing country. To what extent do taste and preferences matter?

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Wisdom Akpalu
  • Isaac Dasmani
  • Peter B. Aglobitse

Abstract

Overreliance on biomass energy, such as firewood and charcoal, for cooking in developing countries has contributed to high rates of deforestation and resulted in substantial indoor pollution which has negatively impacted the health of many individuals. However, the effectiveness of public policies aimed at encouraging households to switch to cleaner fuels, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene, hinges on the extent to which they are mentally committed to specific fuels. Using data on four cooking fuels (charcoal, firewood, LPG, and kerosene) from the Ghana living standards survey, we found strong evidence that the most preferred fuel is LPG, followed by charcoal, with kerosene the least preferred. In addition, with the exception of kerosene that has price-elastic demand, the price elasticities of demand for the fuel types examined are inelastic. This finding suggests the so-called fuel-ladder is not robust.

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Paper provided by Economic Research Southern Africa in its series Working Papers with number 243.

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Length: 14 pages
Date of creation: 2011
Handle: RePEc:rza:wpaper:243
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Keywords: Demand for fuel Taste and preferences Ghana;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
  • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
  • Q23 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Forestry
  • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation

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  1. Ouedraogo, Boukary, 2006. "Household energy preferences for cooking in urban Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(18), pages 3787-3795, December.
  2. Robert Gillingham & David Locke Newhouse & David Coady & Kangni R Kpodar & Moataz El-Said & Paulo A Medas, 2006. "The Magnitude and Distribution of Fuel Subsidies; Evidence from Bolivia, Ghana, Jordan, Mali, and Sri Lanka," IMF Working Papers 06/247, International Monetary Fund.
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  6. Zein-Elabdin, Eiman O., 1997. "Improved stoves in Sub-Saharan Africa: the case of the Sudan," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 465-475, October.
  7. Masera, Omar R. & Saatkamp, Barbara D. & Kammen, Daniel M., 2000. "From Linear Fuel Switching to Multiple Cooking Strategies: A Critique and Alternative to the Energy Ladder Model," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 2083-2103, December.
  8. Kelvin J. Lancaster, 1966. "A New Approach to Consumer Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74, pages 132-132.
  9. Davis, Mark, 1998. "Rural household energy consumption : The effects of access to electricity--evidence from South Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 207-217, February.
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Cited by:

  1. Vanschoenwinkel, Janka & Lizin, Sebastien & Swinnen, Gilbert & Azadi, Hossein & Van Passel, Steven, 2014. "Solar cooking in Senegalese villages: An application of best–worst scaling," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 447-458.
  2. Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Behera, Bhagirath & Ali, Akhter, 2016. "Household energy choice and consumption intensity: Empirical evidence from Bhutan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 993-1009.
  3. Aditi Bhattacharyya & Daisy Das, 2016. "What Makes Rural Households Use Traditional Fuel? Empirical Evidence from India," Working Papers 1604, Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business.
  4. Gosens, Jorrit & Lu, Yonglong & He, Guizhen & Bluemling, Bettina & Beckers, Theo A.M., 2013. "Sustainability effects of household-scale biogas in rural China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 273-287.
  5. Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Behera, Bhagirath & Ali, Akhter, 2016. "Patterns and determinants of household use of fuels for cooking: Empirical evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 117(P1), pages 93-104.
  6. Jean Hugues Nlom & Aziz A. Karimov, 2015. "Modeling Fuel Choice among Households in Northern Cameroon," Sustainability, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 7(8), pages 1-11, July.
  7. Karimu, Amin & Mensah, Justice Tei & Adu, George, 2016. "Who Adopts LPG as the Main Cooking Fuel and Why? Empirical Evidence on Ghana Based on National Survey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 43-57.
  8. Smith, Jo U. & Fischer, Anke & Hallett, Paul D. & Homans, Hilary Y. & Smith, Pete & Abdul-Salam, Yakubu & Emmerling, Hanna H. & Phimister, Euan, 2015. "Sustainable use of organic resources for bioenergy, food and water provision in rural Sub-Saharan Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 903-917.
  9. Christophe Muller & Huijie Yan, 2016. "Household Fuel Use in Developing Countries: Review of Theory and Evidence," Working Papers halshs-01290714, HAL.
  10. Mensah, Justice Tei & Adu, George, 2015. "An empirical analysis of household energy choice in Ghana," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1402-1411.
  11. Lohri, Christian Riuji & Rajabu, Hassan Mtoro & Sweeney, Daniel J. & Zurbrügg, Christian, 2016. "Char fuel production in developing countries – A review of urban biowaste carbonization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1514-1530.
  12. Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Behera, Bhagirath & Ali, Akhter, 2017. "Factors determining household use of clean and renewable energy sources for lighting in Sub-Saharan Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 661-672.
  13. Kileber, Solange & Parente, Virginia, 2015. "Diversifying the Brazilian electricity mix: Income level, the endowment effect, and governance capacity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1180-1189.
  14. Malla, Sunil & Timilsina, Govinda R, 2014. "Household cooking fuel choice and adoption of improved cookstoves in developing countries : a review," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6903, The World Bank.
  15. Wang, Chengchao & Yang, Yusheng & Zhang, Yaoqi, 2012. "Rural household livelihood change, fuelwood substitution, and hilly ecosystem restoration: Evidence from China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 2475-2482.
  16. Bansal, Mohit & Saini, R.P. & Khatod, D.K., 2013. "Development of cooking sector in rural areas in India—A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 44-53.

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