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Do Skills Enable the Reduction of Emissions from Household Energy Use? Findings from a Survey of Households in Rural India

Authors :
Kristinn Hermannsson
Rosario Scandurra
Supravat Sarangi
Preeti Chaturvedi
Thallada Bhaskar
Ashok Pandey
Bhavya B. Krishna
Steven Gillespie
Jillian Gordon
Ivano Bongiovanni
Ian Watson
Siming You
Source :
Journal of Vocational Education and Training. 2024 76(2):447-467.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

We use new survey data from 1,203 households in rural Eastern India to estimate cross-sectional models of overall energy use and embedded emissions. Findings indicate that the primary driver of household energy use is household size and affluence. This is unsurprising and consistent with findings from the engineering literature on energy demand. However, there is also a substantial and significant moderating influence of skills on energy use. For emissions, we observe a bifurcated relationship in line with educational attainment. For those that have completed secondary education or more, skills are negatively associated with energy use and emissions, whereas for those with lesser qualifications more skills are associated with more energy use and emissions. The results are consistent with the environmental Kuznets curve, which implies that a critical level of affluence is required before environmental impacts start lessening. The results also echo a sociological critique of human capital theory - that individual abilities are not productive in and of themselves, but rather in relation to socially determined opportunity structures. Our findings show that this could also hold for greenhouse gas emissions.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1363-6820
Volume :
76
Issue :
2
Database :
ERIC
Journal :
Journal of Vocational Education and Training
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
EJ1418553
Document Type :
Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2023.2283733