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Determinants of Household Electricity Demand in Rural India: A Case Study of the Impacts of Government Subsidies and Surcharges

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  • Sijousa Basumatary

    (Department of Economics, Bodoland University, India.)

  • Mridula Devi

    (Department of Economics, Bodoland University, India.)

  • Konita Basumatary

    (Department of Economics, Bodoland University, India.)

Abstract

This paper analyses the determinants of household electricity consumption with the focus to find the impact of government subsidies and surcharges on the demand for electricity services in the rural areas. Using surveyed household data of 332 samples, quantile regression has been employed for checking heterogeneity in electricity demand across different quantile of households. We find government subsidy has enhanced the household demand for electricity consumption with the elasticity ranging from 45 to 65 percent. Skeptically, electricity consumers of higher quantile tend to consume more even in the presence of outstanding bill while it is the opposite for low quantile group. Surprisingly, income and other socioeconomics variables don t necessarily affect the households demand for electricity. This implies demand for electricity is inelastic to income and selected socioeconomic variables in rural regions. However, electricity demand decreases for households with dwelling characteristics categorized as poorer quantile. Based on our empirical findings implications are drawn for policy makers.

Suggested Citation

  • Sijousa Basumatary & Mridula Devi & Konita Basumatary, 2021. "Determinants of Household Electricity Demand in Rural India: A Case Study of the Impacts of Government Subsidies and Surcharges," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(6), pages 243-249.
    • Handle: RePEc:eco:journ2:2021-06-28
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Electricity; Determinants; Heterogeneity; Quantile; Subsidies; Surcharges;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • R2 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy

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