Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/179922 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
CIW Discussion Paper No. 4/2018
Publisher: 
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Centrum für Interdisziplinäre Wirtschaftsforschung (CIW), Münster
Abstract: 
The increase in network costs within the German electricity grid, due to a rising share of renewable energy generation, has led to higher network charges in recent years. We use socioeconomic data in order to investigate distributional effects within the period 2010-2016, and employ three different inequality metrics - the Gini coefficient, the Theil index and the Atkinson index - all of which unambiguously indicate regressive effects of network charges. The three metrics show an increase of economic inequality of at least 0.6 % when accounting for network charges. This finding is due to 1. the relative inferiority of electricity, 2. the regressive impact of a fixed component of network charges, 3. considerable regional disparities, and 4. the higher prevalence of prosumers within high-income households.
Subjects: 
network charges
renewable energies
economic inequality
JEL: 
D63
Q40
Q42
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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