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Measuring social welfare, energy and inequality in Germany

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  • Schlör, Holger
  • Fischer, Wolfgang
  • Hake, Jürgen-Friedrich

Abstract

The Atkinson index is an inequality measure based on a social welfare function. We will use the Atkinson index as an analytical tool to examine the interactions between economic activity and energy services. The Atkinson index has a specific feature for the calculation of distribution. The index uses the epsilon parameter to explicitly reveal the inequality aversion of society. Epsilon defines how sensitively the Atkinson index should react to income inequalities. The results of applying the Atkinson index could make a significant contribution to science and policy debates on income and energy equity in the context of sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Schlör, Holger & Fischer, Wolfgang & Hake, Jürgen-Friedrich, 2012. "Measuring social welfare, energy and inequality in Germany," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 135-142.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:97:y:2012:i:c:p:135-142
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2012.01.036
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    Cited by:

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    2. Huiru Zhao & Sen Guo & Qi Zhang & Chunjie Li, 2014. "Social Welfare Evaluation of Electric Universal Service in China: From the Perspective of Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-17, August.
    3. Schlör, Holger & Fischer, Wolfgang & Hake, Jürgen-Friedrich, 2013. "Sustainable development, justice and the Atkinson index: Measuring the distributional effects of the German energy transition," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1493-1499.
    4. Yi Tao & Kizito Henry & Qinpei Zou & Xiaoni Zhong, 2014. "Methods for measuring horizontal equity in health resource allocation: a comparative study," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Chapman, Andrew J. & McLellan, Benjamin C. & Tezuka, Tetsuo, 2018. "Prioritizing mitigation efforts considering co-benefits, equity and energy justice: Fossil fuel to renewable energy transition pathways," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 187-198.
    6. Stanislaw Maciej Kot & Piotr Paradowski, 2022. "The Atlas of Inequality Aversion: Theory and Empirical Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study Database," LIS Working papers 826, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    7. Heras, Jorge & Martín, Mariano, 2020. "Social issues in the energy transition: Effect on the design of the new power system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    8. Sun, Chuanwang & Zhang, Yifan & Peng, Shuijun & Zhang, Wencheng, 2015. "The inequalities of public utility products in China: From the perspective of the Atkinson index," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 751-760.
    9. Du, Gang & Sun, Chuanwang & Fang, Zhongnan, 2015. "Evaluating the Atkinson index of household energy consumption in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1080-1087.
    10. Jin Sik Kim & Im Hack Lee & Yong Han Ahn & Sung Eun Lim & Shin Do Kim, 2016. "An analysis of energy consumption to identify urban energy poverty in Seoul," International Journal of Urban Sciences, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 129-140, March.

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