Energy Pricing Policies and Consumers’ Welfare: Evidence from Pakistan

Abstract

This study analyzes the impact of energy pricing policies on consumers’ welfare in rural and urban Pakistan. The study is based on pooled data from the Household Integrated Economic Survey for the period 1984/85 to 2011/12. We use the Almost Ideal Demand System to estimate parameters and price elasticities. The welfare analysis suggests that the rise in energy prices has been greater than the rise in the general consumer price index over this period. Therefore, consumers have incurred high expenditures in all years from 1984 to 2012, with a consistent welfare loss for all consumers with a decreasing trend. Additionally, the welfare loss to rural consumers is greater than that to urban consumers.