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Due to difficulties in accessing detailed energy modelling and usage data that are required to estimate energy needs that are responsive to local circumstances, we propose an equivalence scale approach to the determination of required energy consumption. Our method requires the estimation of energy equivalence scales that are used to rescale reference household energy consumption and, thus, yield household-specific energy requirements. We apply the method using readily available income and expenditure data, finding that estimated required energy is well above actual energy expenditure for low- and middle-income households, which is consistent with an expectation that basic energy needs for poor households may not be met. The proposed approach is general enough to incorporate other features that might be deemed relevant and available in other settings, and, therefore, can be used to examine the affordability component of SDG 7, undertake energy poverty analysis or design appropriate policies. Keywords: Required energy consumption, Equivalence scale, Energy poverty, Semiparametric regression, 1. INTRODUCTION Energy consumption is different from many other consumer goods, because it is often considered a basic need (Welsch and Biermann, 2017); its satisfaction is necessary for an acceptable [...]

Due to difficulties in accessing detailed energy modelling and usage data that are required to estimate energy needs that are responsive to local circumstances, we propose an equivalence scale approach to the determination of required energy consumption. Our method requires the estimation of energy equivalence scales that are used to rescale reference household energy consumption and, thus, yield household-specific energy requirements. We apply the method using readily available income and expenditure data, finding that estimated required energy is well above actual energy expenditure for low- and middle-income households, which is consistent with an expectation that basic energy needs for poor households may not be met. The proposed approach is general enough to incorporate other features that might be deemed relevant and available in other settings, and, therefore, can be used to examine the affordability component of SDG 7, undertake energy poverty analysis or design appropriate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social environment inherent in schools impacts both alcohol consumption onset and high school completion. The results reported here, based on data from the 1979-96 NLS Y panels, show that the social coincidences between alcohol consumption and education are important determinants of both education completion and alcohol onset. Ignoring the social nature of these simultaneous decisions underestimates the impact of alcohol onset on education. After correcting for the presence of an endogenous positive relationship between schooling and alcohol consumption, we find that alcohol initiation before age 14 significantly reduces the probability of timeously completing high school by between 7% and 22%. (JEL I18, I21), I. INTRODUCTION Alcohol consumption by youths is viewed as a critical problem in the United States, and research concerning the effects of youth alcohol consumption has borne out this view. [...]

According to recent macroeconomic evidence, the global financial crisis is still impacting the South African financial landscape more than 10 years later. In an effort to better understand the effect of the financial crisis, we examine household debt dynamics, with particular attention to deleveraging, following the financial cycle peak. Our analysis is predicated on the National Income Dynamics Study, the first wave of which was conducted adjacent to the beginning of the crisis. We apply standard regression analysis finding heterogeneity in debt and deleveraging at the household level, with both an uptick in short-term debt in the early stages of the crisis and a reduction in long-term debt, primarily mortgage debt, since. Overall, deleveraging was greatest amongst higher income households with relatively larger mortgage debt-to-income ratios, although that was partially offset in households with higher mortgage repayment costs relative to income. Long-term deleveraging was also more likely amongst households with higher vehicle debt-to-income ratios, but lower consumer debt-to-income ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DAVID C. RIBAR [*] This article examines the relationship between youthful drinking and educational attainment using data on same-sex siblings pairs from the 1979-90 panels of the National Longitudinal Survey [...]