RESIDENTIAL ENERGY-CONSUMPTION ACROSS DIFFERENT POPULATION GROUPS - COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS FOR LATINO AND NON-LATINO HOUSEHOLDS IN USA

Residential energy cost is an important part of the household budget a nd could vary significantly across different population groups in many countries. In the United States, many studies have analyzed household fuel consumption by fuel type, including electricity, natural gas, fu el oil, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and by geographic areas. Pa st research has also demonstrated significant variation in residential energy use across various population groups, including white, black, and Latino. However, our research shows that residential energy demand by fuel type for Latinos, the fastest growing population group, has n ot been explained by economic and non-economic factors in any statisti cal model in public domain. The purpose of this paper was to discuss e nergy demand and expenditure patterns for Latino and non-Latino househ olds in the United States as a case example of analyzing residential e nergy consumption across different population groups in a country. The linear expenditure system model developed by Stone and Geary is the b asis of the statistical model developed to explain fuel consumption an d expenditures for Latino households. For comparison, the models are a lso developed for non-Latino, black, and non-black households. These m odels estimate energy consumption of and expenditures for electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, and LPG by various households at the national level. Significant variations in the patterns of these fuels consumpti on for Latinos and non-Latinos are highlighted. The model methodology and results of this research should be useful to energy policymakers i n government and industry, researchers, and academicians who are conce rned with economic and energy issues related to various population gro ups in their country. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.