The impact of urban form on vehicle fuel consumption in Mexican metropolitan areas

In: Ekonomiaz: revista vasca de economía ; revista cuatrimestral editada por el Gobierno Vasco para el fomento del análisis y el debate económico con especial atención a los temas que afectan a la economía vasca, Band 97, Heft 1, S. 240-263

Abstract

In this study we analyze the impact that two measures of the urban form – residential density and the land use diversity index – have on gasoline consumption in households located in metropolitan areas of Mexico. The econometric specification implemented is a modified two-part model that fits the distribution of gasoline consumption, while mitigating the endogeneity bias resulting from residential self-selection. The results from the instrumental variables specification, suggest that after controlling for household characteristics increasing residential density in the vicinity of the household location could increase gasoline consumption while increasing residential density at the metropolitan scale may reduce gasoline consumption. Interestingly, the land use diversity index does not seem to affect gasoline consumption. Put together, these findings are indicative of the potential risk of not taking advantage of high residential densities to, together with other strategies, reduce gasoline consumption in metropolitan areas in Mexico.