Socioeconomic determinants and transition of household energy poverty in the rural highlands of Peru, period 2010-2019

Abstract

In recent years, the concept of energy poverty has ceased to be a relegated phenomenon and has become somewhat more relevant, mainly in developing countries, since it is a multidimensional problem that affects economic and social development, decreasing levels of energy. Generating negative externalities in the productivity, health, environment and education of household members of well-being, mainly in rural areas of the country. Therefore, the main objective of this research work is to analyze the energy transition (period 2010-2019) and identify the main socioeconomic factors that influence household energy expenditure in the rural highlands of Peru (period 2018-2019). Taking as a sample 120,582 households for the energy transition analysis and 5,912 households to identify the main socioeconomic factors that influence energy expenditure, using the panel data methodology. Among the main results found, it stands out that; the transition in the use of advanced fuels by poor households was less slow compared to non-poor households, with an average growth rate of 11% and 3% respectively, although in a lower proportion of energy expenditure compared to non-poor households. In addition, it was found that the main socioeconomic determinants of energy poverty measured by energy expenditure are; the household income, the number of rooms in the home and the size of the household, these turned out to be positive and significant at a significance level of 5%.