Koirala Dhiroj Prasad, Rahut Dil
Department of Resource Economics, Stockbridge Hall, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 01003, USA.
Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Japan.
Heliyon. 2024 Oct 24;10(21):e39801. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e39801. eCollection 2024 Nov 15.
This study examines the impact of multidimensional energy poverty (MDEP) on household consumption and savings, with a focus on potential differences by the gender of the household head. Using data from the Household Risk and Vulnerability Survey (HRVS) 2016-2018, a three-year panel dataset from Nepal covering 6000 households, we apply pooled OLS, dynamic panel fixed effects (FE), panel instrumental variable (IV), and Lewbel's (Lewbel, 2012) 2SLS methods. Our findings reveal that MDEP significantly reduces both household consumption and savings, with more pronounced effects on savings. The corresponding coefficients range from -0.376 to -0.092 for consumption and from - 0.722 to -3.213 for savings, suggesting that fully transitioning out of MDEP could increase household savings by 72.2 %-321.3 %. The effects of MDEP are consistent across households, regardless of the gender of the household head. This study underscores the importance of addressing MDEP to enhance household welfare and recommends that policymakers focus on expanding reliable and affordable energy access as part of broader economic development strategies to improve overall living standards in developing countries.
本研究考察了多维能源贫困(MDEP)对家庭消费和储蓄的影响,重点关注户主性别带来的潜在差异。利用2016 - 2018年家庭风险与脆弱性调查(HRVS)的数据,这是一个来自尼泊尔的涵盖6000户家庭的三年面板数据集,我们应用了混合OLS、动态面板固定效应(FE)、面板工具变量(IV)以及卢贝尔(Lewbel,2012)的两阶段最小二乘法(2SLS)。我们的研究结果表明,多维能源贫困显著降低了家庭消费和储蓄,对储蓄的影响更为显著。消费的相应系数范围为 - 0.376至 - 0.092,储蓄的相应系数范围为 - 0.722至 - 3.213,这表明完全摆脱多维能源贫困可使家庭储蓄增加72.2% - 321.3%。无论户主性别如何,多维能源贫困对各家庭的影响都是一致的。本研究强调了解决多维能源贫困对提高家庭福利的重要性,并建议政策制定者将重点放在扩大可靠且负担得起的能源供应上,作为更广泛经济发展战略的一部分,以提高发展中国家的整体生活水平。