Since the early 1970s there has been a worldwide upsurge in the price of energy and in particular of gasoline. Therefore, demand functions for energy and its components like gasoline have received much attention. However, since confidence in the estimated demand functions is important for use in...

Understanding how consumers respond to price increases is key when designing price-related policies. Using microdata on vehicle usage and paid fuel prices, I analyze consumers' response, focusing on three channels of mitigation: distance driven, fuel efficiency, and search. On average, consumers...

This paper analyzes gasoline consumption in Japan for the period 2000– 2007 using the index decomposition analysis (IDA). The changes in gasoline con- sumption in Japan were attributed to five factors: (1) change in the annual average driving distance of new and vintage cars, (2) change in the...

Using co-integration techniques, we investigate the determinants of gasoline demand in Switzerland over the period 1970-2008. We obtain a very weak price elasticity of -0.09 in the short run and -0.34 in the long run. For fuel demand, i.e. gasoline plus diesel, the corresponding price...

This paper develops a new method for estimating a demand function and the welfare consequences of price changes. The method is applied to gasoline demand in the U.S. and is applicable to other goods. The method uses shape restrictions derived from economic theory to improve the precision of a...

In order to mitigate climate change, several countries around the world have introduced or are planning a CO2 tax on energy consumption. The effectiveness of such a tax depends on the level of the short- and long-run price elasticity. Moreover, acceptance of a CO2 tax by a society depends on...