BonoSocial- Working Paper.pdf (409.3 kB)
The impact of the Bono Social de Electricidad on energy poverty in Spain
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-10, 00:50 authored by Guillermo Garcia Alvarez, Richard TolRichard TolThe Bono Social de Electricidad (BSE) is a government programme, introduced in 2009, to reduce energy poverty in Spain. The BSE is a discount on the price of electricity, available to vulnerable households who applied. Applying differences-in-differences and propensity score matching to household data between 2008 and 2011, we find no statistically significant impact of the intention to treat on two indicators of energy poverty, viz. the ability to keep the house adequately warm, and the presence of damp walls, rotting windows and leaking roofs. This may be because eligible households did not apply. A third indicator, delays in paying electricity bills, showed a statistically significant deterioration. That is, the BSE has not reduced energy poverty, if anything it has made it worse. This is not because eligible households transferred income to relatives hit harder by the financial crises, but it may be because the BSE discount did not fully compensate for the cold of 2010.
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- Published
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- Submitted version
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Energy EconomicsISSN
0140-9883Publisher
ElsevierExternal DOI
Article number
a105554Department affiliated with
- Economics Publications
Full text available
- Yes
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- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2021-09-02Usage metrics
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