Resumen

REYES, Orlando; ESCALANTE, Roberto  y  MATAS, Anna. La demanda de gasolinas en México: Efectos y alternativas ante el cambio climático. Econ: teor. práct [online]. 2010, n.32, pp.83-111. ISSN 2448-7481.

The transportation sector is one of the most polluting sectors in Mexico, generating around 17% of total CO₂ emissions. Moreover, the consumption of gasoline and diesel are the main source of these emissions. This document empirically analyses the fuel demand in the transportation sector of Mexico over the period 1960-2008. The results show that the long -and short- run price and income elasticities in fuel consumption are: -0.285, -0.041, 1.004 and 0.721. This implies that fuel demand is sensitive to the trajectory of income and is inelastic to prices. Therefore, a continuous economic growth without a suitable price policy will generate an increase in gasoline consumption. This situation could be worst if we take into consideration the effects on climate change. Under these circumstances it is necessary to implement simultaneously a variety of public policies to control the impact of fuel consumption on climate change.

Palabras llave : gasoline demand; income and price elasticity; road transport; economic policy; carbon dioxide emissions and cointegration techniques.