Patterns of household energy use and expenditure have been the subject of a large number of studies. Household expenditures on energy-particularly, how much the poor spend-have policy implications for several reasons. First, policies to mitigate or cope with energy price shocks are increasingly...

Household surveys in Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka were analyzed using a two-stage Heckman model to examine the factors influencing the decision to use liquefied petroleum gas (stage 1) and, among users, the quantity consumed per person (stage 2). In the first...

Household surveys in Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka were analyzed using a two-stage Heckman model to examine the factors influencing the decision to use liquefied petroleum gas (stage 1) and, among users, the quantity consumed per person (stage 2). In the first...

Oil prices more than tripled between January 2004 and March 2008. The effects can be hard on countries with large net oil imports relative to income. This note sets out a measure of vulnerability to oil price shocks and breaks it down into its components. That allows cross-country benchmarking...

Many developing countries subsidize petroleum products. The doubling of world oil prices since January 2004 has had very high fiscal costs for these countries, increasing public debt and squeezing other government spending. The subsidies have also had unintended results. But phasing out...

In the fuel business, smuggling, adulteration, mislabeling, and short-weighting are widespread in many developing counties. Not only do these commercial abuses reduce consumer welfare and government excise revenue but the combustion of substandard fuels can have a serious public health impact....

The vehicle inspection program in Mexico City is regard as one of the most successful in a developing country. As the program evolved it suffered the problem common to most such scheme in developing countries -- high levels of evasion. But the program now operates well, through high volume,...

Many recent studies and reports on the performance of the energy sector have focused on the employment generated by investment. Governments, planning their energy futures, are also interested in the job creation benefits and possible identification of skill shortages that may emerge from a large...