“The Demand for Energy-Using Assets among the World’s Rising Middle Classes”Abstract:We study decisions to acquire energy-using assets in thepresence of rising incomes. We develop a theoretical framework to show that
credit-constrained, poor households are unlikely to use additional income to
buy appliances. The effect of income growth on asset purchases is stronger at
higher income levels. We use large and plausibly exogenous shocks to household
income generated by the conditional-cash-transfer program in Mexico,
Oportunidades, to show that asset acquisition is nonlinear, depends, as
predicted, on the pace of income growth, and both effects are economically
large among beneficiaries. Our results may help explain important worldwide
trends in energy use.Link to paperAbout the Speaker:Catherine Wolfram is Cora Jane Flood Professor of Business Administration at
the Haas School of Business and a researcher at the UC Energy
Institute. Her research focuses on the economics of energy markets. She has studied the impact of environmental regulation on energy
markets and the effects of electricity industry privatization and
restructuring around the world. She received a PhD in economics from MIT. Before joining the faculty
at UC Berkeley, she was an assistant professor of economics at Harvard
University.
See Catherine Wolfram’s complete bio.
