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Heterogeneity in Price Responsiveness for Residential Space Heating in Germany

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  • Hendrik Schmitz
  • Reinhard Madlener

Abstract

Space heating and hot water expenditures make up the majority of household energy demand in Germany, at 83.2%, making them an attractive target for energy policies. Using a panel dataset derived from yearly residential household surveys covering the years 1996 to 2014, we identify the determinants of heating expenditures for German households. We discover significant heterogeneity in expenditures depending on socioeconomic variables. For the full sample, we find a price elasticity of heating expenditures of 0.629. Elasticities vary significantly between individual groups, with values ranging from 0.523 to 0.716. Furthermore, a large number of technical and socio-demographic factors are significant in determining energy use. Our findings have implications for evaluating the effectiveness of policy measures that aim at influencing energy use across different groups of consumers.

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  • Hendrik Schmitz & Reinhard Madlener, 2016. "Heterogeneity in Price Responsiveness for Residential Space Heating in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 877, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp877
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    Cited by:

    1. Oberst, Christian A. & Schmitz, Hendrik & Madlener, Reinhard, 2019. "Are Prosumer Households That Much Different? Evidence From Stated Residential Energy Consumption in Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 101-115.
    2. Heesen, Florian & Madlener, Reinhard, 2021. "Revisiting heat energy consumption modeling: Household production theory applied to field experimental data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    3. Singhal, Puja & Pahle, Michael & Kalkuhl, Matthias & Levesque, Antoine & Sommer, Stephan & Berneiser, Jessica, 2022. "Beyond good faith: Why evidence-based policy is necessary to decarbonize buildings cost-effectively in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    4. Anders Rhiger Hansen & Daniel Leiria & Hicham Johra & Anna Marszal-Pomianowska, 2022. "Who Produces the Peaks? Household Variation in Peak Energy Demand for Space Heating and Domestic Hot Water," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-23, December.
    5. Wang, Xia & Ding, Chao & Zhou, Mao & Cai, Weiguang & Ma, Xianrui & Yuan, Jiachen, 2023. "Assessment of space heating consumption efficiency based on a household survey in the hot summer and cold winter climate zone in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    6. Johannes Huber & Christian Scharrer, 2024. "The fiscal and intergenerational burdens of brakes and subsidies for energy prices," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(5), pages 1249-1273, October.
    7. Mats Kröger & Maximilian Longmuir & Karsten Neuhoff & Franziska Schütze, 2022. "The Costs of Natural Gas Dependency: Price Shocks, Inequality, and Public Policy," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2010, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    8. Wang, Xia & Fang, Yuan & Cai, Weiguang & Ding, Chao & Xie, Yupei, 2022. "Heating demand with heterogeneity in residential households in the hot summer and cold winter climate zone in China -A quantile regression approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    9. Kröger, Mats & Longmuir, Maximilian & Neuhoff, Karsten & Schütze, Franziska, 2023. "The price of natural gas dependency: Price shocks, inequality, and public policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    10. Trotta, Gianluca & Hansen, Anders Rhiger & Sommer, Stephan, 2022. "The price elasticity of residential district heating demand: New evidence from a dynamic panel approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Germany; heating demand; heating expenditures; heterogeneity; space heating;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices

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