Energy conservation gains within the personal vehicle fleet are undermined if drivers respond to declining transportation prices by increasing the quantity of transportation demanded, a phenomenon referred to as “rebound.” In this analysis, we estimate transportation rebound in the U.S. using 2009 vehicle level data from the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS). Results from OLS and IV models indicate that a one percent reduction in driving cost associates with between a 0.56 and a 0.78 percent increase in vehicle miles traveled, with the effect more pronounced in single than multiple vehicle households and among drivers with the lowest driving intensity.
AjanovicAmelia and ReinhardHaas. 2012. “The Role of Efficiency Improvements vs. Price Effects for Modeling Passenger Car Transport Demand and Energy Demand – Lessons from European Countries.” Energy Policy, 41: 36–46.
2.
BarlaPhillippe, BernardLamonde, LuisMiranda-Moreno, and NathalieBoucher. 2009. “Travel Distance, Stock and Fuel Efficiency of Private Vehicles in Canada: Price Elasticities and Rebound Effects.” Transportation, 36(4): 389–402.
3.
deHaanPeter, AnjaPeters, and RolandScholz. 2007. “Reducing Energy Consumption in Road Transport through Hybrid Vehicles: Investigation of Rebound Effects, and Possible Effects of Tax Rebates.” Journal of Cleaner Production, 15(11–12): 1076–1084.
4.
FrondelManuel, JorgPeters and ColinVance. 2008. “Identifying the Rebound: Evidence from a German Household Panel.” The Energy Journal, 29(4): 145–163.
5.
FrondelManual, NolanRitter, and ColinVance. 2012. “Heterogeneity in the Rebound Effect: Further Evidence for Germany.” Energy Economics, 34: 461–467.
6.
GreeneDavid L.1992. “Vehicle Use and Fuel Economy: How Big is the “Rebound” Effect?” Energy Journal, 13(1), 117–143.
7.
GreeneDavid L.2012. “Rebound 2007: Analysis of U.S. Light-duty Vehicle Travel Statistics.” Energy Policy, 41: 14–28.
8.
GreeneDavid L., JamesR. Kahn and GibsonRobert C.1999. “Fuel Economy Rebound Effect for U.S. Household Vehicles.” Energy Journal, 20(3), 1–31.
9.
HymelKent M., KennethSmall and KurtVan Dender. 2010. “Induced Demand and Rebound Effects in Road Transport.” Transportation Research Part B, 44: 1220–1241.
10.
KnittelChristopher R. and RyanSandler. 2010. “Carbon Process and Automobile Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Extensive and Intensive Margins.” NBER Working Paper 16482. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
11.
MatiaskeWenzel, RolandMenges, and MartinSpiess. 2012. “Modifying the Rebound: It Depends! Explaining Mobility Behavior on the Basis of the German Socio-economic Panel.” Energy Policy, 41: 29–35.
12.
SmallKenneth A. and KurtVan Dender. 2007. “Fuel Efficiency and Motor Vehicle Travel: The Declining Rebound Effect.” Energy Journal, 28(1): 25–51.
13.
SorrellSteve, and JohnDimitropoulos. 2008. “The Rebound Effect: Microeconomic Definitions, Limitations, and Extensions.” Ecological Economics, 65: 636–649.
14.
SorrellSteve, DimitropoulosJohn, and MattSommerville. 2009. “Empirical Estimates of the Direct Rebound Effect: A Review.” Energy Policy, 37: 1356–1371.
15.
SuQing. 2011. “Induced Motor Vehicle Travel from Improved Fuel Efficiency and Road Expansion.” Energy Policy, 39: 7257–7264.
16.
U.S. Department of Energy. 2012. Annual Energy Review 2011. Washington, DC: U.S. Energy Information Administration,
17.
U.S. Department of Energy. 2013. Annual Energy Outlook 2013. Washington, DC: U.S. Energy Information Administration.
18.
U.S. Department of Transportation. 2012. Travel Monitoring Analysis System (TMAS) Historical VMT Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Federal Highway Administration.
19.
U.S. Department of Transportation. 2012b. “Obama Administration Finalizes Historic 54.5 mpg Fuel Efficiency.” Washington, DC: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
20.
U.S. Department of Transportation. 2013. Summary of Fuel Economy Performance. Washington, DC: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
21.
WadudZia, RobertB. Noland, and DanielJ. Graham. 2010. “A Semiparametric Model of Household Gasoline Demand.” Energy Economics, 32: 93–101.
22.
WangH., ZhouP. and ZhouD. Q.. 2012. “An Empirical Study of Direct Rebound Effect for Passenger Transport in Urban China.” Energy Economics, 34: 452–460.
23.
WestSarah E.2004. “Distributional Effects of Alternative Vehicle Pollutions Control Policies.” Journal of Public Economics, 88: 735–757.
