| Abstract: | Summary This paper analyzes the private demand for energy (coal, heating oil, natural gas and electricity) for the period 1958–1974, using yearly data.The energy demand of private households is supposed to be dependent on household incomes, prices of the respective energy sources and yearly temperature levels. The special aim of this paper is to get hold of the influence of the relative prices of the 11 sub-groups of private consumption. The impact of these relativ prices is analyzed through the method of principal components, where upon the first three principal components are introduced as additional independent variables into the regression.Although the principal components do not have any interpretation beyond that of an index, the fit of the estimated demand questions has been improved and the  elasticities are more close to the expected values. |
