Abstract Despite increased access to modern energy services being a key development priority, few studies have examined whether improved access is sufficient to facilitate universal energy use at the household level. Using micro data from Vietnam, we study how a national grid expansion is translated into households' electricity use over time. Our analysis reveals that household income is an important determinant of electricity consumption, and that this relationship is highly nonlinear with respect to income. We find a greater degree of inequality in electricity expenditure than we do in income. This finding suggests that a rapid increase in electricity access may not translate directly into increased use of electricity for low income households and could potentially increase the gap in energy use between high income and low income households. Lastly, we find that household characteristics, such as the education level of the household head, household size, as well as the type of housing (quality), are important factors that influence electricity consumption.

中文翻译：

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减少能源贫困：越南家庭用电的特点

摘要 尽管增加获得现代能源服务的机会是一个关键的发展优先事项，但很少有研究调查改善的获取是否足以促进家庭层面的普遍能源使用。使用来自越南的微观数据，我们研究了随着时间的推移，国家电网的扩张如何转化为家庭的用电量。我们的分析表明，家庭收入是电力消费的重要决定因素，而且这种关系与收入高度非线性。我们发现电力支出的不平等程度比收入的不平等程度更大。这一发现表明，电力供应的迅速增加可能不会直接转化为低收入家庭用电量的增加，并且可能会扩大高收入家庭和低收入家庭之间的能源使用差距。