Dynamics of energy poverty: evidence from nonparametric estimates across the ASEAN+6 region

In the research, we analyse the non-linear relationship between energy poverty and its determinants across the ASEAN+6 region between 1980 and 2019. Two proxies are used to capture the energy poverty viz. electricity consumption and access to electricity. The effects of the regressors on energy poverty are examined with a non-parametric estimation technique using local linear dummy variable estimates (LLDVEs). The estimates suggest real income has a mixed effect on electricity consumption and that electricity consumption has been rising with real income since 2009. Access to the internet cause increased electricity consumption, while a mixed effect is revealed for population and human capital. Meanwhile, real income, population, and access to the internet revealed mixed effects on access to electricity, whereas human capital shows a positive and significant impact. Renewable energy production has a negligible effect on reducing access to electricity for some periods. Additionally, heterogeneity exists in electricity consumption, access to electricity, across countries and within their country-specific trends. Similar results are obtained when only the ASEAN region is considered.