Rising Incomes, Transport Demand, and Sector Decarbonization

Mathilde Sylvie Maria Lebrand and Ewane Theophile

No 10010, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: As income increases, people become more mobile and spend more on carbon-intensive transport goods and services. This paper estimates income elasticities of transport consumption using household survey data for 18 countries, which are then used to simulate transport carbon footprint and carbon inequality by 2035. It first shows that in low- and middle-income countries (i) many households mostly walk and do not use transport services, (ii) income elasticity of private transport expenditure is high, and (iii) many households do not own a car. Both results suggest a future steep growth of emissions as incomes expand. Using estimates of income elasticities of vehicle ownership and vehicle use, the paper shows that carbon footprint will increase on average by 52 percent for these countries as incomes reach their 2035 levels. Finally, it decomposes carbon dioxide emissions along the within-country income distribution. Car ownership and carbon dioxide emissions are highly concentrated at the top. By 2035, carbon inequality will increase in some countries but decrease in others. Such results can be used for modeling future distributional implications of climate and energy policies.

Date: 2022-04-19
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env and nep-tre
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