Gross inland energy consumption inequality in Europe: An empirical approach.

Abstract

This paper analyses the gross inland energy consumption (EC) in the European Union countries (EU-15) taking in account the period 2005-2014. The standard tools in the measurement of income inequality such as Lorenz curves, Gini index, Generalized Entropy indices and Atkinson ones are applied. The empirical results, obtained through the decomposition of the generalized entropy indices, confirm that there are a small inward shift in the corresponding Lorenz curves, that the inequality distribution of EC across the EU-15 countries has decreased (the Gini coefficient falls from 44,27% in 2005 to 42,16% in 2014) and there are differences among the countries' clusters: Mediterranean, Continental, Nordic and Anglo-Saxon. This paper makes a good contribution to knowledge: firstly, it is innovative since it puts together energy Consumption and inequality among the EU-15 countries, secondly, it uses a very up-to-dated database (Eurostat), and thirdly, it fills a gap in the literature.