Household Sharing for Carbon and Energy Reductions: The Case of EU Countries

As households get smaller worldwide, the extent of sharing within households reduces, resulting in rising per capita energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This article examines for the first time the differences in household economies of scale across EU countries as a way to support reductions in energy use and GHG emissions, while considering differences in effects across consumption domains and urban-rural typology. A country-comparative analysis is important to facilitate the formulation of context-specific initiatives and policies for resource sharing. We find that one-person households are most carbon- and energy-intensive per capita with an EU average of 9.2 tCO2eq/cap and 0.14 TJ/cap, and a total contribution of about 17% to the EU’s carbon and energy use. Two-person households contribute about 31% to the EU carbon and energy footprint, while those of five or more members add about 9%. The average carbon and energy footprints of an EU household of five or more is about half that of a one-person average household, amounting to 4.6 tCO2eq/cap and 0.07 TJ/cap. Household economies of scale vary substantially across consumption categories, urban-rural typology and EU countries. Substantial household economies of scale are noted for home energy, real estate services and miscellaneous services such as waste treatment and water supply; yet, some of the weakest household economies of scale occur in high carbon domains such as transport. Furthermore, Northern and Central European states are more likely to report strong household economies of scale—particularly in sparsely populated areas—compared to Southern and Eastern European countries. We discuss ways in which differences in household economies of scale may be linked to social, political and climatic conditions. We also provide policy recommendations for encouraging sharing within and between households as a contribution to climate change mitigation.

Consumption Behavior and Household Economies of Scale An Analysis of Variations across Rural-Urban Regions of Pakistan

The study attempts to explore the expenditure elasticities of various food items across the provinces of Pakistan while taking in to account the rural and urban regions separately. Household Integrated Income and Consumption Survey (hereafter HIICS) data for the year 2015-2016 is utilized. In addition, the household economies of scale towards the consumption are also being focused on the same lines. The study has made use of double log specification of Engel curve. The included 20 food items are appeared as normal commodities having expenditure elasticity less than one. All the expenditure elasticities have positive signs and are less than one which shows that all the food commodities are necessities and normal goods i.e. as income increases their expenditure will increase at a decreasing rate. The negative sign of the household size depicts that there is a negative relationship with consumption i.e. supports the notion that households with higher family size enjoy the economies of scale towards the consumption of food.