War, energy poverty, and capabilities: the case of Georgia in the South Caucasus between 2006 and 2009

Ute Dubois, Tutana Kvaratskhelia, Françoise Bartiaux and Philippe Bocquier

Energy Policy, 2025, vol. 204, issue C

Abstract: What are the consequences of a war on the daily life of a society, in particular on its access to energy and thus on energy poverty and its correlates in terms of well-being? Georgia, a country in the South Caucasus, offers its experience as it faced a war from Russia in August 2008 and earlier, different episodes of Russian-provoked conflicts after its secession from the Soviet Union in 1991. Two years before and one year after the 2008 war, several thousand Georgians were interviewed in a multi-scope survey. In this quasi-experimental design, these panel data make it possible to ‘follow’ respondents in 2006 and 2009 and their perceptions of their economic and material situation, their energy access problems, as well as their general and mental health, and the extent of social support they receive or do not receive. A panel analysis on these developments is contextualised with information on public policies. The results indicate that severe energy poverty is more prevalent in rural areas where the population mainly relies on firewood for heating and cooking. Furthermore, capabilities predict energy poverty dynamics better than socio-demographic variables.

Keywords: Energy poverty; Capabilities; Panel data; War; Rural; Georgia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:204:y:2025:i:c:s0301421525001569

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114649

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