社會·人口的 要因이 家庭電力消費에 미치는 영향

Socio-demogrphic Effects on Households Electricity Consumption Behavior in Korea

Household energy consumption behavior has been neither well understood nor properly analyzed, especially in rapidly developing countries. The traditional approach used in consumer theory has its limitations in encompassing the possible influences of scio-demographic changes on energy consumption behavior. On the other hand, the Household Production Approach which we will use in the present study does provide a useful analytical tool. The model in this paper employs one basic economic variable, income, and examines the effects of several socio-demographic variables, inculding education, age, sex and size of household. Considering the fact that there has been a tendency toward shifting rapidly to electricity, the cleanest energy source, electricity consumption has been chosen as the dependent variable in our study. Income and age are the main variables included in our regression equations, and other variables are tested using "dummy" technique. The result shows that both income and age significantly influence the level of electricity consumption. Among other variables examined, education and number of family members are two major variables affecting household electricity consumption patterns. The directions of influence are the same as expected. Through attempting to develop an appropriate model for our study, we were able to gain better insights into household energy consumption behavior. The findings of this study suggest that conservation policies could be more effective if they were based on such an analysis and by formulating such policies in consideration of the distinct lifestyles and needs of different groups. This approach is also believed to be useful for future projections of domestic energy demand.