IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/enejou/v29y2008i4p145-164.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identifying the Rebound: Evidence from a German Household Panel

Author

Listed:
  • Manuel Frondel
  • Jorg Peters
  • Colin Vance

Abstract

Using a panel of household travel diary data collected in Germany between 1997 and 2005, this study assesses the effectiveness of fuel efficiency improvements by estimating the rebound effect, which measures the extent to which higher efficiency causes additional travel. Following a theoretical discussion outlining three alternative definitions of the rebound effect, the econometric analysis generates corresponding estimates using panel methods to control for the effects of unobservables that could otherwise produce spurious results. Our results, which range between 57% and 67%, indicate a rebound that is substantially larger than obtained in other studies, calling into question the efficacy of policies targeted at reducing energy consumption via technological efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Manuel Frondel & Jorg Peters & Colin Vance, 2008. "Identifying the Rebound: Evidence from a German Household Panel," The Energy Journal, , vol. 29(4), pages 145-164, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:enejou:v:29:y:2008:i:4:p:145-164
    DOI: 10.5547/ISSN0195-6574-EJ-Vol29-No4-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5547/ISSN0195-6574-EJ-Vol29-No4-7
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5547/ISSN0195-6574-EJ-Vol29-No4-7?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amory B. Lovins, 1988. "Energy Saving from the Adoption of More Efficient Appliances: Another View," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 155-170.
    2. A. Greening, Lorna & Greene, David L. & Difiglio, Carmen, 2000. "Energy efficiency and consumption -- the rebound effect -- a survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 389-401, June.
    3. David L. Greene, 1992. "Vehicle Use and Fuel Economy: How Big is the "Rebound" Effect?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 117-144.
    4. John Henly & Henry Ruderman & Mark D. Levine, 1988. "Energy Saving Resulting from the Adoption of More Efficient Appliances: A Follow-up," The Energy Journal, , vol. 9(2), pages 163-170, April.
    5. Harty D. Saunders, 1992. "The Khazzoom-Brookes Postulate and Neoclassical Growth," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 131-148.
    6. David L. Greene & James R. Kahn & Robert C. Gibson, 1999. "Fuel Economy Rebound Effect for U.S. Household Vehicles," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 1-31.
    7. Brannlund, Runar & Ghalwash, Tarek & Nordstrom, Jonas, 2007. "Increased energy efficiency and the rebound effect: Effects on consumption and emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-17, January.
    8. West, Sarah E., 2004. "Distributional effects of alternative vehicle pollution control policies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3-4), pages 735-757, March.
    9. Brookes, Leonard, 2000. "Energy efficiency fallacies revisited," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 355-366, June.
    10. Binswanger, Mathias, 2001. "Technological progress and sustainable development: what about the rebound effect?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 119-132, January.
    11. Schipper, Lee & Grubb, Michael, 2000. "On the rebound? Feedback between energy intensities and energy uses in IEA countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 367-388, June.
    12. J. Daniel Khazzoom, 1980. "Economic Implications of Mandated Efficiency in Standards for Household Appliances," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 21-40.
    13. David L. Greene & James R. Kahn & Robert C. Gibson, 1999. "Fuel Economy Rebound Effect for U.S. Household Vehicles," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 1-31.
    14. Berkhout, Peter H. G. & Muskens, Jos C. & W. Velthuijsen, Jan, 2000. "Defining the rebound effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 425-432, June.
    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. Frondel, Manuel, 2024. "Die hohen unbekannten CO2-Vermeidungskosten ordnungsrechtlicher Klimaschutzmaßnahmen: Empirische Beispiele aus Deutschland und Europa," RWI Materialien 168, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
    2. Tufan Özsoy, 2024. "The “energy rebound effect” within the framework of environmental sustainability," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), March.

    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. Alcott, Blake, 2005. "Jevons' paradox," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 9-21, July.
    2. Freire-González, Jaume & Font Vivanco, David & Puig-Ventosa, Ignasi, 2017. "Economic structure and energy savings from energy efficiency in households," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 12-20.
    3. Alcott, Blake, 2008. "The sufficiency strategy: Would rich-world frugality lower environmental impact," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 770-786, February.
    4. Stela Rubínová, 2011. "Reakce poptávky domácností po energii na zvyšování energetické účinnosti: teorie a její důsledky pro konstrukci empiricky ověřitelných modelů [Reaction of Household Energy Demand to Improvements in," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2011(3), pages 359-378.
    5. Sorrell, Steve & Dimitropoulos, John, 2008. "The rebound effect: Microeconomic definitions, limitations and extensions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 636-649, April.
    6. Su, Qing, 2012. "A quantile regression analysis of the rebound effect: Evidence from the 2009 National Household Transportation Survey in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 368-377.
    7. David Font Vivanco & Jaume Freire‐González & Ray Galvin & Tilman Santarius & Hans Jakob Walnum & Tamar Makov & Serenella Sala, 2022. "Rebound effect and sustainability science: A review," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1543-1563, August.
    8. Orea, Luis & Llorca, Manuel & Filippini, Massimo, 2015. "A new approach to measuring the rebound effect associated to energy efficiency improvements: An application to the US residential energy demand," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 599-609.
    9. Freire-González, Jaume, 2017. "Evidence of direct and indirect rebound effect in households in EU-27 countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 270-276.
    10. Thomas, Brinda A. & Azevedo, Inês L., 2013. "Estimating direct and indirect rebound effects for U.S. households with input–output analysis Part 1: Theoretical framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 199-210.
    11. Saunders, Harry D., 2014. "Toward a neoclassical theory of sustainable consumption: Eight golden age propositions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 220-232.
    12. Ruzzenenti, F. & Basosi, R., 2008. "The role of the power/efficiency misconception in the rebound effect's size debate: Does efficiency actually lead to a power enhancement?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 3626-3632, September.
    13. Wang, H. & Zhou, P. & Zhou, D.Q., 2012. "An empirical study of direct rebound effect for passenger transport in urban China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 452-460.
    14. Tufan Özsoy, 2024. "The “energy rebound effect” within the framework of environmental sustainability," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), March.
    15. Orea, Luis & Llorca, Manuel & Filippini, Massimo, 2014. "Measuring energy efficiency and rebound effects using a stochastic demand frontier approach: the US residential energy demand," Efficiency Series Papers 2014/01, University of Oviedo, Department of Economics, Oviedo Efficiency Group (OEG).
    16. Ghoddusi, Hamed & Roy, Mandira, 2017. "Supply elasticity matters for the rebound effect and its impact on policy comparisons," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 111-120.
    17. Guerra, Ana-Isabel & Sancho, Ferran, 2010. "Rethinking economy-wide rebound measures: An unbiased proposal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 6684-6694, November.
    18. Michael Huesemann & Joyce Huesemann, 2008. "Will progress in science and technology avert or accelerate global collapse? A critical analysis and policy recommendations," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 10(6), pages 787-825, December.
    19. Wang, Zhaohua & Lu, Milin & Wang, Jian-Cai, 2014. "Direct rebound effect on urban residential electricity use: An empirical study in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 124-132.
    20. Marion Drut, 2012. "Vers un système de transport opérant selon les principes de l'économie de la fonctionnalité," Working Papers hal-00992621, HAL.

    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:sae:enejou:v:29:y:2008:i:4:p:145-164. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.