IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v86y2020ics0140988319304475.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fuel poverty and subjective wellbeing

Author

Listed:
  • Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa
  • Smyth, Russell
  • Farrell, Lisa

Abstract

We use 13 waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey to examine the effect of fuel poverty on subjective wellbeing (SWB) in Australia. We find that being in fuel poverty lowers SWB. When we instrument for fuel poverty using electricity and gas prices, we find that a standard deviation increase in fuel poverty is associated with declines of 0.168–0.458 standard deviations in SWB, depending on how fuel poverty is measured. The general conclusion that fuel poverty lowers SWB is robust to alternative ways of measuring fuel poverty, a suite of estimation approaches and other sensitivity checks.

Suggested Citation

  • Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell & Farrell, Lisa, 2020. "Fuel poverty and subjective wellbeing," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:86:y:2020:i:c:s0140988319304475
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2019.104650
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988319304475
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2019.104650?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. Bridge, Brandon A. & Adhikari, Dadhi & Fontenla, Matías, 2016. "Household-level effects of electricity on income," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 222-228.
    2. Sascha O. Becker, 2016. "Using instrumental variables to establish causality," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 250-250, April.
    3. Philipp Biermann, 2016. "How Fuel Poverty Affects Subjective Well-Being: Panel Evidence from Germany," Working Papers V-395-16, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2016.
    4. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    5. Charlotte von Möllendorff & Heinz Welsch, 2017. "Measuring Renewable Energy Externalities: Evidence from Subjective Well-being Data," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 93(1), pages 109-126.
    6. John Hudson, 2006. "Institutional Trust and Subjective Well‐Being across the EU," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 43-62, February.
    7. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July.
    8. Clive R. Belfield & Inas Rashad Kelly, 2012. "The Benefits of Breast Feeding across the Early Years of Childhood," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(3), pages 251-277.
    9. Waddams Price, Catherine & Brazier, Karl & Wang, Wenjia, 2012. "Objective and subjective measures of fuel poverty," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 33-39.
    10. Burlinson, Andrew & Giulietti, Monica & Battisti, Giuliana, 2018. "The elephant in the energy room: Establishing the nexus between housing poverty and fuel poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 135-144.
    11. Healy, John D. & Clinch, J. Peter, 2004. "Quantifying the severity of fuel poverty, its relationship with poor housing and reasons for non-investment in energy-saving measures in Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 207-220, January.
    12. Ed Diener & Eunkook Suh, 1997. "Measuring Quality Of Life: Economic, Social, And Subjective Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 189-216, January.
    13. KNIGHT, John & SONG, Lina & GUNATILAKA, Ramani, 2009. "Subjective well-being and its determinants in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 635-649, December.
    14. Robert Cummins, 2000. "Personal Income and Subjective Well-being: A Review," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 133-158, June.
    15. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Vinod Mishra, 2017. "Trust, Social Networks and Subjective Wellbeing in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 313-339, May.
    16. Zhen Zhang & Jianxin Zhang, 2015. "Social Participation and Subjective Well-Being Among Retirees in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 143-160, August.
    17. Carol Graham, 2005. "The Economics of Happiness," World Economics, World Economics, 1 Ivory Square, Plantation Wharf, London, United Kingdom, SW11 3UE, vol. 6(3), pages 41-55, July.
    18. Robert A. Cummins, 2018. "Subjective Wellbeing as a Social Indicator," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 879-891, February.
    19. Kubiszewski, Ida & Zakariyya, Nabeeh & Costanza, Robert, 2018. "Objective and Subjective Indicators of Life Satisfaction in Australia: How Well Do People Perceive What Supports a Good Life?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 361-372.
    20. Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz & Chaudhury, Nazmul, 2012. "Subjective well-being and relative poverty in rural Bangladesh," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 940-950.
    21. Huang, Li & Frijters, Paul & Dalziel, Kim & Clarke, Philip, 2018. "Life satisfaction, QALYs, and the monetary value of health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 131-136.
    22. Legendre, Bérangère & Ricci, Olivia, 2015. "Measuring fuel poverty in France: Which households are the most fuel vulnerable?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 620-628.
    23. Jeremy K. Nguyen & Christopher M. Fleming & Jen-Je Su, 2015. "Does Income Inequality Make Us Less Happy?," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 48(1), pages 15-32, March.
    24. Erzo F. P. Luttmer, 2005. "Neighbors as Negatives: Relative Earnings and Well-Being," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(3), pages 963-1002.
    25. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    26. O'Sullivan, Kimberley C. & Howden-Chapman, Philippa L. & Fougere, Geoff, 2011. "Making the connection: The relationship between fuel poverty, electricity disconnection, and prepayment metering," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 733-741, February.
    27. Nicole Watson & Mark Wooden, 2011. "Re-engaging with Survey Non-respondents: The BHPS, SOEP and HILDA Survey Experience," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2011n02, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    28. Rajeev H. Dehejia & Sadek Wahba, 2002. "Propensity Score-Matching Methods For Nonexperimental Causal Studies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 151-161, February.
    29. Day, Rosie & Walker, Gordon & Simcock, Neil, 2016. "Conceptualising energy use and energy poverty using a capabilities framework," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 255-264.
    30. Andrew E. Clark & Sarah Flèche & Richard Layard & Powdthavee Nattavudh, 2018. "The Origins of Happiness: The Science of Well-Being over the Life Course," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01631510, HAL.
    31. Fan, Shu & Hyndman, Rob J., 2011. "The price elasticity of electricity demand in South Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3709-3719, June.
    32. Robert Cummins, 1995. "On the trail of the gold standard for subjective well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 179-200, June.
    33. Pillai N., Vijayamohanan, 2016. "Panel Data Analysis with Stata Part 1 Fixed Effects and Random Effects Models," MPRA Paper 76869, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    34. Krekel, Christian & Zerrahn, Alexander, 2017. "Does the presence of wind turbines have negative externalities for people in their surroundings? Evidence from well-being data," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 221-238.
    35. Krauss, Alexander, 2016. "How natural gas tariff increases can influence poverty: Results, measurement constraints and bias," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 244-254.
    36. Hills, John, 2011. "Fuel poverty: the problem and its measurement," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 39270, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    37. Daniel Neff, 2007. "Subjective Well-Being, Poverty and Ethnicity in South Africa: Insights from an Exploratory Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 80(2), pages 313-341, January.
    38. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Smyth, Russell, 2005. "The residential demand for electricity in Australia: an application of the bounds testing approach to cointegration," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 467-474, March.
    39. Apergis, Nicholas & Lau, Marco Chi Keung, 2015. "Structural breaks and electricity prices: Further evidence on the role of climate policy uncertainties in the Australian electricity market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(PA), pages 176-182.
    40. Rodriguez-Alvarez, Ana & Orea, Luis & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2019. "Fuel poverty and Well-Being:A consumer theory and stochastic frontier approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 22-32.
    41. Catherine Waddams Price & Karl Brazier & Khac Pham & Laurence Mathieu & Wenjia Wang, 2007. "Identifying Fuel Poverty Using Objective and Subjective Measures," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2007-11, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    42. Rainer Winkelmann, 2009. "Unemployment, Social Capital, and Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 421-430, August.
    43. Carol Graham, 2005. "Insights on Development from the Economics of Happiness," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 20(2), pages 201-231.
    44. Mohr, Tanga McDaniel, 2018. "Fuel poverty in the US: Evidence using the 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 360-369.
    45. Philip Oreopoulos, 2006. "Estimating Average and Local Average Treatment Effects of Education when Compulsory Schooling Laws Really Matter," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 152-175, March.
    46. John Hills, 2012. "Final report of the Hills Independent Fuel Poverty Review: Getting the Measure of Fuel Poverty," CASE Reports casereport72, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    47. John Hills, 2011. "Fuel Poverty: The problem and its measurement. Interim Report of the Fuel Poverty Review," CASE Reports casereport69, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    48. Joaquina Lever, 2004. "Poverty and Subjective Well-being in Mexico," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 68(1), pages 1-33, August.
    49. Thomson, Harriet & Snell, Carolyn, 2013. "Quantifying the prevalence of fuel poverty across the European Union," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 563-572.
    50. Valadkhani, Abbas & Nguyen, Jeremy & Smyth, Russell, 2018. "Consumer electricity and gas prices across Australian capital cities: Structural breaks, effects of policy reforms and interstate differences," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 365-375.
    51. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, July.
    52. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    53. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell, 2017. "Ethnic Diversity and Poverty," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 285-302.
    54. Breusch, T S & Pagan, A R, 1979. "A Simple Test for Heteroscedasticity and Random Coefficient Variation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(5), pages 1287-1294, September.
    55. Rafael Di Tella & Robert MacCulloch, 2006. "Some Uses of Happiness Data in Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, Winter.
    56. Mark Wooden & Ning Li, 2014. "Panel Conditioning and Subjective Well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 235-255, May.
    57. Card, David, 2001. "Estimating the Return to Schooling: Progress on Some Persistent Econometric Problems," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(5), pages 1127-1160, September.
    58. Walker, Gordon & Day, Rosie, 2012. "Fuel poverty as injustice: Integrating distribution, recognition and procedure in the struggle for affordable warmth," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 69-75.
    59. Kristin J. Forbes, 2000. "A Reassessment of the Relationship between Inequality and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 869-887, September.
    60. Heinz Welsch & Philipp Biermann, 2017. "Energy Affordability and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence for European Countries," The Energy Journal, , vol. 38(3), pages 159-176, May.
    61. Apergis, Nicholas & Baruník, Jozef & Lau, Marco Chi Keung, 2017. "Good volatility, bad volatility: What drives the asymmetric connectedness of Australian electricity markets?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 108-115.
    62. Ed Diener & Ed Sandvik & Larry Seidlitz & Marissa Diener, 1993. "The relationship between income and subjective well-being: Relative or absolute?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 195-223, March.
    63. Mishra, Vinod & Smyth, Russell, 2015. "Estimating returns to schooling in urban China using conventional and heteroskedasticity-based instruments," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 166-173.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell, 2020. "Ethnic diversity, energy poverty and the mediating role of trust: Evidence from household panel data for Australia11We thank two referees for constructive comments. This article uses unit record data ," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    2. Rafi, Muhammed & Naseef, Mohemmad & Prasad, Salu, 2021. "Multidimensional energy poverty and human capital development: Empirical evidence from India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    3. Prakash, Kushneel & Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell, 2020. "Petrol prices and subjective wellbeing," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Nie, Peng & Li, Qiaoge & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2021. "Energy poverty and subjective well-being in China: New evidence from the China Family Panel Studies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    5. Hailemariam, Abebe & Sakutukwa, Tutsirai & Yew, Siew Ling, 2021. "The impact of energy poverty on physical violence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    6. Munyanyi, Musharavati Ephraim & Mintah, Kwabena & Baako, Kingsley Tetteh, 2021. "Energy-related deprivation and housing tenure transitions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    7. Charlier, Dorothée & Legendre, Bérangère, 2021. "Fuel poverty in industrialized countries: Definition, measures and policy implications a review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    8. Byela Tibesigwa & Martine Visser & Brennan Hodkinson, 2016. "Effects of Objective and Subjective Income Comparisons on Subjective Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 361-389, August.
    9. Boqiang Lin & Michael Adu Okyere, 2020. "Multidimensional Energy Poverty and Mental Health: Micro-Level Evidence from Ghana," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-18, September.
    10. Rodriguez-Alvarez, Ana & Llorca, Manuel & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2021. "Alleviating energy poverty in Europe: Front-runners and laggards," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    11. Chang, Lei & Gan, Xiaojun & Mohsin, Muhammad, 2022. "Studying corporate liquidity and regulatory responses for economic recovery in COVID-19 crises," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 211-225.
    12. Paudel, Jayash, 2021. "Why Are People Energy Poor? Evidence From Ethnic Fractionalization," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    13. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Russell Smyth, 2020. "Friendship network composition and subjective well-being," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 72(1), pages 191-215.
    14. Recep Ulucak & Ramazan Sari & Seyfettin Erdogan & Rui Alexandre Castanho, 2021. "Bibliometric Literature Analysis of a Multi-Dimensional Sustainable Development Issue: Energy Poverty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-21, August.
    15. Kahouli, Sondès & Okushima, Shinichiro, 2021. "Regional energy poverty reevaluated: A direct measurement approach applied to France and Japan," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    16. Davillas, Apostolos & Burlinson, Andrew & Liu, Hui-Hsuan, 2022. "Getting warmer: Fuel poverty, objective and subjective health and well-being," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    17. Tekleselassie, Tsegay Gebrekidan, 2016. "Three essays on the impact of institutions and policies on socio-economic outcomes," Economics PhD Theses 1316, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    18. Koomson, Isaac & Danquah, Michael, 2021. "Financial inclusion and energy poverty: Empirical evidence from Ghana," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    19. Best, Rohan & Hammerle, Mara & Mukhopadhaya, Pundarik & Silber, Jacques, 2021. "Targeting household energy assistance," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    20. Vinod Mishra & Ingrid Nielsen & Russell Smyth, 2010. "Relative Income, Temporary Life Shocks and Subjective Wellbeing in the Long-run," Monash Economics Working Papers 51-10, Monash University, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Energy poverty; Fuel poverty; Wellbeing; Life satisfaction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

    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:86:y:2020:i:c:s0140988319304475. 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.