Profile and Determinants of the Middle Classes in Ghana: Energy Use and Sustainable Consumption

Bernardin Senadza,Felix A Asante,Babette Never,Sascha Kuhn

doi:10.5539/jsd.v13n6p11

Abstract

High and sustained economic growth rates of the Ghanaian economy in the past two to three decades have been accompanied by a growing urban middle class. With a rapidly growing middle class, overall consumption is not only increasing but changing too. This paper analyses the asset ownership patterns among the Ghanaian middle class, and examines the effect of household wealth, environmental concern and environmental knowledge on carbon dioxide emissions emanating from energy use and transport based on urban household survey data collected in Accra, the capital city, in 2018. We find that middle class households consume a variety of energy intensive consumer goods, and the intensity of consumption increases with household wealth. Regression results reveal statistically significant relationship between household wealth and carbon emissions from energy and transport use. We also find that environmental knowledge has a statistically negative effect on carbon emissions from transport. The policy implications are discussed.

Highlights

The contribution of developing economies to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains historically meagre, levels of energy consumption in emerging economies have grown steadily at the turn of the millennium (Murthy et al, 2006)
We focus on three key independent variables, namely, household wealth, environmental concern and environmental knowledge, in addition to socio-demographic characteristics of households, which are to serve as controls
Environmental knowledge and environmental concern variables are added to the baseline model, before introduction of the controls variables

Summary

Introduction

The contribution of developing economies to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains historically meagre, levels of energy consumption in emerging economies have grown steadily at the turn of the millennium (Murthy et al, 2006). Population growth and rapid urbanisation in many cities of developing countries have led to more carbon-intensive consumption lifestyles (Belloumi and Alshehry, 2016; Elliott et al, 2014; Jones, 1991). This trend has occasioned renewed interest in the adverse environmental impacts of production systems, and the consumption patterns of the growing middle classes in these countries. The positive growth continued into the 1990s and beyond, averaging more than 7 percent per annum since 2005 This sustained growth has translated into increased per capita income. Ghana’s gross domestic product (GDP) has been rebased (Note 2) twice between 2010 and 2018 to reflect the current size of the economy and structural changes in production and consumption

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Conclusion