IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v172y2023ics030142152200516x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Shaking things up: Do seismic shocks affect energy choices?

Author

Listed:
  • Paudel, Jayash

Abstract

Understanding how economic agents alter their energy consumption in response to seismic shocks has direct implications on the economic cost of natural disasters. This article exploits variation in peak ground acceleration from the 2015 earthquake in Nepal to investigate the impact of seismic shocks on household energy choices. Results from a difference-in-differences research design show that households exposed to large seismic shocks were 40.83% more likely to use firewood for cooking after the earthquake. This increase in the use of traditional fuel coincided with a decrease in electricity expenditure and a reduction in adoption of gas cylinders for cooking purposes. Unit prices of firewood also decreased significantly in response to seismic shocks, causing households in earthquake-affected districts to rely more on firewood as a source of cooking fuel. Results further illustrate that household consumption in electricity and kerosene for lighting declined in earthquake-affected districts. These findings conclude that large earthquakes induce poor households to use traditional fuel, exacerbating their transition to modern energy sources. Policymakers working on sustainable economic growth need to consider these disaster-induced changes in energy outcomes to ensure a successful implementation of commitments made under the Paris Agreement (COP21).

Suggested Citation

  • Paudel, Jayash, 2023. "Shaking things up: Do seismic shocks affect energy choices?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:172:y:2023:i:c:s030142152200516x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113297
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142152200516X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113297?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. Paudel, Jayash & Ryu, Hanbyul, 2018. "Natural disasters and human capital: The case of Nepal’s earthquake," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 1-12.
    2. Paudel, Jayash, 2022. "Deadly tornadoes and racial disparities in energy consumption: Implications for energy poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    3. Nepal, Rabindra & Paija, Nirash, 2019. "Energy security, electricity, population and economic growth: The case of a developing South Asian resource-rich economy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 771-781.
    4. Joshi, Janak & Bohara, Alok K., 2017. "Household preferences for cooking fuels and inter-fuel substitutions: Unlocking the modern fuels in the Nepalese household," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 507-523.
    5. Spoon, Jeremy & Gerkey, Drew & Chhetri, Ram Bahadur & Rai, Alisa & Basnet, Umesh, 2020. "Navigating multidimensional household recoveries following the 2015 Nepal earthquakes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    6. Steve Cicala & Stephen P. Holland & Erin T. Mansur & Nicholas Z. Muller & Andrew J. Yates, 2020. "Expected Health Effects of Reduced Air Pollution from COVID-19 Social Distancing," Working Papers 2020-61, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    7. Acharya, Bikram & Adhikari, Santosh, 2021. "Household energy consumption and adaptation behavior during crisis: Evidence from Indian economic blockade on Nepal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(PB).
    8. Berlemann, Michael, 2016. "Does hurricane risk affect individual well-being? Empirical evidence on the indirect effects of natural disasters," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 99-113.
    9. 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.
    10. Dutt, Dwarkeshwar & Ranjan, Abhishek, 2022. "Towards a just energy transition in Delhi: Addressing the bias in the rooftop solar market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    11. Paudel, Jayash, 2021. "Beyond the Blaze: The Impact of Forest Fires on Energy Poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    12. Paudel, Jayash, 2021. "Why Are People Energy Poor? Evidence From Ethnic Fractionalization," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    13. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie, 2011. "Killing Me Softly: The Fetal Origins Hypothesis," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(3), pages 153-172, Summer.
    14. Jayash Paudel, 2022. "Environmental Disasters and Property Values: Evidence from Nepal’s Forest Fires," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 98(1), pages 115-131.
    15. Eichenauer, Vera Z. & Fuchs, Andreas & Kunze, Sven & Strobl, Eric, 2020. "Distortions in aid allocation of United Nations flash appeals: Evidence from the 2015 Nepal earthquake," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    16. Shakya, Shishir & Basnet, Subuna & Paudel, Jayash, 2022. "Natural disasters and labor migration: Evidence from Nepal’s earthquake," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    17. Lazzaroni, Sara & van Bergeijk, Peter A.G., 2014. "Natural disasters' impact, factors of resilience and development: A meta-analysis of the macroeconomic literature," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 333-346.
    18. Koirala, Dhiroj Prasad & Acharya, Bikram, 2022. "Households’ fuel choices in the context of a decade-long load-shedding problem in Nepal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    19. Islar, Mine & Brogaard, Sara & Lemberg-Pedersen, Martin, 2017. "Feasibility of energy justice: Exploring national and local efforts for energy development in Nepal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 668-676.
    20. 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.
    21. Paudel, Jayash, 2021. "Short-run environmental effects of COVID-19: Evidence from forest fires," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    22. Shahzad, Umer & Doğan, Buhari & Sinha, Avik & Fareed, Zeeshan, 2021. "Does Export product diversification help to reduce energy demand: Exploring the contextual evidences from the newly industrialized countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    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. Paudel, Jayash, 2023. "Do environmental disasters affect human capital? The threat of forest fires," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(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. Paudel, Jayash, 2021. "Beyond the Blaze: The Impact of Forest Fires on Energy Poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    2. Paudel, Jayash, 2022. "Deadly tornadoes and racial disparities in energy consumption: Implications for energy poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    3. Shakya, Shishir & Basnet, Subuna & Paudel, Jayash, 2022. "Natural disasters and labor migration: Evidence from Nepal’s earthquake," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    4. Paudel, Jayash, 2023. "Do environmental disasters affect human capital? The threat of forest fires," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Paudel, Jayash, 2021. "Home Alone: Implications of COVID-19 for Mental Health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    6. Paudel, Jayash, 2021. "Why Are People Energy Poor? Evidence From Ethnic Fractionalization," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    7. 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).
    8. Khusiman Pun & Kira Villa & Matías Fontenla, 2023. "The impact of Nepal's earthquake on the health status of rural children," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 710-734, May.
    9. Eichenauer, Vera Z. & Fuchs, Andreas & Kunze, Sven & Strobl, Eric, 2020. "Distortions in aid allocation of United Nations flash appeals: Evidence from the 2015 Nepal earthquake," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    10. Cheng, Zhiming & Guo, Liwen & Smyth, Russell & Tani, Massimiliano, 2022. "Childhood adversity and energy poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    11. Muhammad Ahmar & Fahad Ali & Yuexiang Jiang & Mamdooh Alwetaishi & Sherif S. M. Ghoneim, 2022. "Households’ Energy Choices in Rural Pakistan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-23, April.
    12. Tian, Xinping & Gong, Jinquan & Zhai, Zhe, 2022. "Natural disasters and human capital accumulation: Evidence from the 1976 Tangshan earthquake," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    13. Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Aryal, Jeetendra Prakash & Chhay, Panharoth & Sonobe, Tetsushi, 2022. "Ethnicity/caste-based social differentiation and the consumption of clean cooking energy in Nepal: An exploration using panel data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    14. Dottori, Davide, 2024. "The effect of the earthquake in Central Italy on the depopulation of the affected territories," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    15. Wang, Jun & Ghosh, Sudeshna & Olayinka, Olohunlana Aminat & Doğan, Buhari & Shah, Muhammad Ibrahim & Zhong, Kaiyang, 2022. "Achieving energy security amidst the world uncertainty in newly industrialized economies: The role of technological advancement," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PB).
    16. Johnson, Kelsey K. & Parton, Lee & Nolte, Christoph & Williamson, Matt & Nogeire-McRae, Theresa & Paudel, Jayash & Brandt, Jodi, 2023. "Moving to the country: Understanding the effects of Covid-19 on property values and farmland development risk," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    17. Malla, Sunil, 2022. "An outlook of end-use energy demand based on a clean energy and technology transformation of the household sector in Nepal," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PB).
    18. 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).
    19. Koirala, Dhiroj Prasad & Acharya, Bikram, 2022. "Households’ fuel choices in the context of a decade-long load-shedding problem in Nepal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    20. Nepal, Rabindra & Best, Rohan & Taylor, Madeline, 2023. "Strategies for reducing ethnic inequality in energy outcomes: A Nepalese example," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).

    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:enepol:v:172:y:2023:i:c:s030142152200516x. 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/enpol .

    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.