IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v111y2022ics0140988322002274.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Earthquake and household energy consumption – Evidence from the Wenchuan earthquake in China

Author

Listed:
  • Yin, Zhichao
  • Yan, Yu
  • Chen, Xirong
  • Liu, Taixing

Abstract

In this article, we focus on how household consumption responded to the Wenchuan earthquake in China. Based on the data from 2007, 2008 and 2009 from the China Urban Household Survey, we adopt the difference-in-difference model (DID) and find that the Wenchuan earthquake significantly restrained household consumption. First, the total consumption, energy consumption and energy consumption ratio were suppressed by the Wenchuan earthquake. The negative impact was mainly driven by the “living like there's no tomorrow” effect, and the consumption decisions of the affected households were not always identical. A possible mechanism is salience theory. Second, both the energy consumption ratio and fuel consumption ratio were dramatically reduced by the Wenchuan earthquake. Third, transfer payments helped households mitigate adverse impacts. In addition, households with low education, low income and low social networks were the most strongly affected by the Wenchuan earthquake.

Suggested Citation

  • Yin, Zhichao & Yan, Yu & Chen, Xirong & Liu, Taixing, 2022. "Earthquake and household energy consumption – Evidence from the Wenchuan earthquake in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:111:y:2022:i:c:s0140988322002274
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106061
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988322002274
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106061?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van den Berg, Marrit & Burger, Kees, 2008. "Household Consumption and Natural Disasters: The Case of Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 44380, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Jane G Fortson, 2011. "Mortality Risk and Human Capital Investment: The Impact of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Anh Tuan Bui & Mardi Dungey & Cuong Viet Nguyen & Thu Phuong Pham, 2014. "The impact of natural disasters on household income, expenditure, poverty and inequality: evidence from Vietnam," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(15), pages 1751-1766, May.
    4. Obstfeld, Maurice, 1994. "Risk-Taking, Global Diversification, and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1310-1329, December.
    5. Precious Akampumuza & Hirotaka Matsuda, 2017. "Weather Shocks and Urban Livelihood Strategies: The Gender Dimension of Household Vulnerability in the Kumi District Of Uganda," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(6), pages 953-970, June.
    6. Tamazian, Artur & Bhaskara Rao, B., 2010. "Do economic, financial and institutional developments matter for environmental degradation? Evidence from transitional economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 137-145, January.
    7. Pedro Bordalo & Nicola Gennaioli & Andrei Shleifer, 2013. "Salience and Consumer Choice," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 121(5), pages 803-843.
    8. Marcos D. Chamon & Eswar S. Prasad, 2010. "Why Are Saving Rates of Urban Households in China Rising?," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 93-130, January.
    9. Hubbard, R Glenn & Skinner, Jonathan & Zeldes, Stephen P, 1995. "Precautionary Saving and Social Insurance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(2), pages 360-399, April.
    10. Pedro Bordalo & Nicola Gennaioli & Andrei Shleifer, 2020. "Memory, Attention, and Choice," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(3), pages 1399-1442.
    11. Mottaleb, Khondoker Abdul & Mohanty, Samarendu & Hoang, Hoa Thi Khanh & Rejesus, Roderick M., 2013. "The effects of natural disasters on farm household income and expenditures: A study on rice farmers in Bangladesh," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 43-52.
    12. Carter, Michael R. & Little, Peter D. & Mogues, Tewodaj & Negatu, Workneh, 2007. "Poverty Traps and Natural Disasters in Ethiopia and Honduras," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 835-856, May.
    13. Pedro Bordalo & Nicola Gennaioli & Andrei Shleifer, 2012. "Salience Theory of Choice Under Risk," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(3), pages 1243-1285.
    14. Cynthia Kinnan & Robert Townsend, 2012. "Kinship and Financial Networks, Formal Financial Access, and Risk Reduction," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 289-293, May.
    15. Christopher D. Carroll, 1997. "Buffer-Stock Saving and the Life Cycle/Permanent Income Hypothesis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 1-55.
    16. Christopher D. Carroll & Andrew A. Samwick, 1998. "How Important Is Precautionary Saving?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(3), pages 410-419, August.
    17. Justin Gallagher & Daniel Hartley, 2017. "Household Finance after a Natural Disaster: The Case of Hurricane Katrina," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 199-228, August.
    18. Eduardo Cavallo & Sebastian Galiani & Ilan Noy & Juan Pantano, 2013. "Catastrophic Natural Disasters and Economic Growth," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1549-1561, December.
    19. Yasuyuki Sawada, 2017. "Disasters, Household Decisions, and Insurance Mechanisms: A Review of Evidence and a Case Study from a Developing Country in Asia," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 12(1), pages 18-40, January.
    20. Cho, Seong-Hoon & Tanaka, Katsuya & Wu, Junjie & Robert, Roland K. & Kim, Taeyoung, 2016. "Effects of nuclear power plant shutdowns on electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions after the Tohoku Earthquake," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 223-233.
    21. Gitter, Seth R. & Barham, Bradford L., 2007. "Credit, Natural Disasters, Coffee, and Educational Attainment in Rural Honduras," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 498-511, March.
    22. Fujimi, Toshio & Chang, Stephanie E., 2014. "Adaptation to electricity crisis: Businesses in the 2011 Great East Japan triple disaster," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 447-457.
    23. Sumit Mazumdar & Papiya Guha Mazumdar & Barun Kanjilal & Prashant Kumar Singh, 2014. "Multiple Shocks, Coping and Welfare Consequences: Natural Disasters and Health Shocks in the Indian Sundarbans," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-13, August.
    24. Howard Kunreuther & Mark Pauly, 2006. "Rules rather than discretion: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 101-116, September.
    25. Howard Kunreuther & Mark Pauly, 2006. "Rules Rather Than Discretion: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina," NBER Working Papers 12503, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Costantini, Valeria & Martini, Chiara, 2010. "The causality between energy consumption and economic growth: A multi-sectoral analysis using non-stationary cointegrated panel data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 591-603, May.
    27. repec:mpr:mprres:6928 is not listed on IDEAS
    28. Richard Blundell & Luigi Pistaferri & Ian Preston, 2008. "Consumption Inequality and Partial Insurance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1887-1921, December.
    29. Sadorsky, Perry, 2013. "Do urbanization and industrialization affect energy intensity in developing countries?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 52-59.
    30. Yasuyuki Sawada & Satoshi Shimizutani, 2007. "Consumption insurance against natural disasters: evidence from the Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) earthquake," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 303-306.
    31. Hayne E. Leland, 1968. "Saving and Uncertainty: The Precautionary Demand for Saving," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 82(3), pages 465-473.
    32. Acheampong, Alex O., 2019. "Modelling for insight: Does financial development improve environmental quality?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 156-179.
    33. Gao, Ming & Liu, Yu-Jane & Shi, Yushui, 2020. "Do people feel less at risk? Evidence from disaster experience," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(3), pages 866-888.
    34. Arouri, Mohamed & Nguyen, Cuong & Youssef, Adel Ben, 2015. "Natural Disasters, Household Welfare, and Resilience: Evidence from Rural Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 59-77.
    35. Justin Gallagher, 2014. "Learning about an Infrequent Event: Evidence from Flood Insurance Take-Up in the United States," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 206-233, July.
    36. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Chih-Wei & Ho, Shan-Ju & Wu, Ting-Pin, 2021. "The impact of natural disaster on energy consumption: International evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    37. Warr, Peter & Aung, Lwin Lwin, 2019. "Poverty and inequality impact of a natural disaster: Myanmar’s 2008 cyclone Nargis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 446-461.
    38. Michael Henry & Nekeisha Spencer & Eric Strobl, 2020. "The Impact of Tropical Storms on Households: Evidence from Panel Data on Consumption," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(1), pages 1-22, February.
    39. van den Berg, Marrit, 2010. "Household income strategies and natural disasters: Dynamic livelihoods in rural Nicaragua," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 592-602, January.
    40. Kevin Luo & Tomoko Kinugasa, 2018. "Do natural disasters influence long-term saving?: Assessing the impact of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake on household saving rates using synthetic control," Discussion Papers 1804, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    41. Bijoy Rakshit, 2021. "Impact of Natural Disasters on Energy Consumption - Evidence From Indian States," Energy RESEARCH LETTERS, Asia-Pacific Applied Economics Association, vol. 2(3), pages 1-6.
    42. Yasuyuki Sawada & Satoshi Shimizutani, 2011. "Changes in durable stocks, portfolio allocation, and consumption expenditure in the aftermath of the Kobe earthquake," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(4), pages 429-443, December.
    43. Albala-Bertrand, J. M., 1993. "Political Economy of Large Natural Disasters: With Special Reference to Developing Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287650.
    44. Peter M. Schwarz & Joseph A. Cochran, 2013. "Renaissance Or Requiem: Is Nuclear Energy Cost Effective In A Post-Fukushima World?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 31(4), pages 691-707, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Huang, Ruixian & Shi, Yujing & Li, Danyang & Wang, Shuoxiang & Jia, Zhehao, 2024. "Religious atmosphere, seismic impact, and corporate charitable donations in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    2. Yin, Zhichao & Wang, Rui & Wu, Xi, 2023. "Financial inclusion, natural disasters and energy poverty: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    3. Li, Chao & Zhang, Yuhan & Li, Xiang & Hao, Yanwei, 2024. "Artificial intelligence, household financial fragility and energy resources consumption: Impacts of digital disruption from a demand-based perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Chih-Wei & Ho, Shan-Ju & Wu, Ting-Pin, 2021. "The impact of natural disaster on energy consumption: International evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    2. Pelli, Martino & Tschopp, Jeanne & Bezmaternykh, Natalia & Eklou, Kodjovi M., 2023. "In the eye of the storm: Firms and capital destruction in India," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    3. Yasuyuki Sawada, 2017. "Disasters, Household Decisions, and Insurance Mechanisms: A Review of Evidence and a Case Study from a Developing Country in Asia," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 12(1), pages 18-40, January.
    4. Clemens, Christiane & Heinemann, Maik, 2015. "Endogenous growth and wealth inequality under incomplete markets and idiosyncratic risk," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 300-317.
    5. Arouri, Mohamed & Nguyen, Cuong & Youssef, Adel Ben, 2015. "Natural Disasters, Household Welfare, and Resilience: Evidence from Rural Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 59-77.
    6. SAWADA Yasuyuki & MASAKI Tatsujiro & NAKATA Hiroyuki & SEKIGUCHI Kunio, 2017. "Natural Disasters: Financial preparedness of corporate Japan," Discussion papers 17014, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    7. Abu Nasar Mohammad Abdullah & Kerstin Katharina Zander & Bronwyn Myers & Natasha Stacey & Stephen Thomas Garnett, 2016. "A short-term decrease in household income inequality in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh, following Cyclone Aila," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 83(2), pages 1103-1123, September.
    8. Beyer, Robert C. M. & Narayanan, Abhinav & Thakur, Gogol Mitra, 2022. "Natural Disasters and Economic Dynamics: Evidence from the Kerala Floods," Working Papers 22/383, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    9. Luo, Deming & Yao, Zhongwei & Zhu, Yanjian, 2022. "Bubble-crash experience and investment styles of mutual fund managers," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    10. Mensah, Edouard R. & Filipski, Mateusz J., 2022. "Saving for a rainy day: the impact of natural disasters on savings rates," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322266, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Gao, Ming & Liu, Yu-Jane & Shi, Yushui, 2020. "Do people feel less at risk? Evidence from disaster experience," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(3), pages 866-888.
    12. Stéphane Hallegatte & Adrien Vogt-Schilb & Julie Rozenberg & Mook Bangalore & Chloé Beaudet, 2020. "From Poverty to Disaster and Back: a Review of the Literature," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 223-247, April.
    13. Lothar Essig, 2005. "Precautionary saving and old-age provisions: Do subjective saving motive measures work?," MEA discussion paper series 05084, Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy.
    14. Filipski, Mateusz & Jin, Ling & Zhang, Xiaobo & Chen, Kevin Z., 2019. "Living like there’s no tomorrow: The psychological effects of an earthquake on savings and spending behavior," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 107-128.
    15. Xiao Lin, 2020. "Risk awareness and adverse selection in catastrophe insurance: Evidence from California’s residential earthquake insurance market," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 43-65, August.
    16. Sawada, Yasuyuki & Takasaki, Yoshito, 2017. "Natural Disaster, Poverty, and Development: An Introduction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 2-15.
    17. Essig, Lothar, 2005. "Precautionary saving and old-age provisions : do subjective saving motives measures work?," Papers 05-22, Sonderforschungsbreich 504.
    18. James Feigenbaum, 2005. "Heterogeneity vs Uncertainty in Anticipation of a Borrowing Constraint," Working Paper 230, Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh, revised Jan 2005.
    19. Mahdi Moudi & Shiyu Yan & Bahador Bahramimianrood & Xiaoping Li & Liming Yao, 2019. "Statistical model for earthquake economic loss estimation using GDP and DPI: a case study from Iran," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 583-598, March.
    20. Charles Grant & Christos Koulovatianos & Alexander Michaelides & Mario Padula, 2010. "Evidence on the Insurance Effect of Redistributive Taxation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 965-973, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wenchuan earthquake; Natural disaster; Household consumption; Energy consumption;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:111:y:2022:i:c:s0140988322002274. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.