van Beers, CeesStrand, Jon2013-09-042013-09-042013-05https://hdl.handle.net/10986/15569This paper provides an empirical analysis of economic and political determinants of gasoline and diesel prices for about 200 countries over the period 1991-2010. A range of both political and economic variables are found to systematically influence fuel prices, and in ways that differ systematically with countries per-capita income levels. For democracies, the analysis finds that fuel prices correlate positively with both duration of democracy and tenure of democratic leaders. In non-democratic societies there is more often no such relationship or it is the opposite of that for democracies. Regime switches -- transitions from non-democratic to democratic government, or vice versa -- reduce fuel prices. Fuel prices are also lower for more corrupt, or more centralized, governments. Higher levels of gross domestic product per capita lead to higher fuel prices, while export income from selling fossil fuels reduces these prices dramatically. Higher motor fuel consumption also appears to reduce fuel prices, most for gasoline. Absolute "pass-through" of crude oil price changes to fuel prices is found to be high on average.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO ENERGYAVAILABILITYBARRIERBENCHMARKCARCAR OWNERSCAR OWNERSHIPCARBON EMISSIONSCARSCLIMATE CHANGECOMMODITIESCOMPETITIVENESSCONSUMERSCONSUMPTION LEVELSCOST OF ENERGYCOUNTRY FIXED EFFECTCRUDE OILCRUDE OIL PRICEDEBTDEMAND FOR GASOLINEDEMOCRACIESDEMOCRACYDEMOCRATIC SOCIETIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT POLICYDEVELOPMENT PROJECTSDIESELDIESEL USEDOMESTIC ENERGYDOMESTIC MARKETECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC SYSTEMSECONOMIES OF SCALEELECTRICITYEMPLOYMENTENERGY CONSUMPTIONENERGY COSTSENERGY EXPORTSENERGY PRICESENERGY PRICINGENERGY PRODUCTIONENERGY SUPPLYENERGY USEEXPORT MARKETSEXPORTSEXTERNALITIESEXTERNALITYFOSSILFOSSIL ENERGYFOSSIL FUELFOSSIL FUEL CONSUMPTIONFOSSIL FUEL ENDOWMENTSFOSSIL FUEL ENERGYFOSSIL FUEL PRICESFOSSIL FUEL USEFOSSIL FUELSFUEL CONSUMPTIONFUEL PRICEFUEL PRICESFUEL PRODUCERSFUEL PUMPFUEL SUBSIDIESFUEL TAXFUEL TAX RATESFUEL TAXATIONFUEL TAXESFUEL VOLUMEGAS CONSUMPTIONGAS PRICESGASOLINEGASOLINE CONSUMPTIONGASOLINE PRICESGDPGDP PER CAPITAGLOBAL CLIMATEGLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGEGOVERNANCE INDICATORSGOVERNMENT BUDGETGOVERNMENT EXPENDITURESGRID CONNECTIONSGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT PER CAPITAINCOMEINCOME GROUPINCOME GROUPSINCOME LEVELSKEROSENEKEROSENE SUBSIDIESLESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIESLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESMARKET PRICEMIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIESMIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIESMONOPOLIESMOTOR FUELMOTOR FUELSMOTOR VEHICLEMOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFICMOTOR VEHICLE USEMOTOR VEHICLESNATURAL GASNEGATIVE EXTERNALITIESNET OILOIL EXPORTEROIL EXPORTERSOIL IMPORTING COUNTRIESOIL OUTPUTOIL PRICESOIL SUPPLYOPPORTUNITY COSTSPASSENGER CARSPOLITICAL BUSINESS CYCLEPOLITICAL DETERMINANTSPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL POWERPOLITICAL REGIMEPOLITICAL STABILITYPOLITICAL SYSTEMPOLLUTIONPOLLUTION LEVELSPOSITIVE EFFECTSPOVERTY ALLEVIATIONPOWERPOWER DISTRIBUTIONPOWER PARITYPRICE CHANGESPRICE DISTORTIONSPRICE INCREASESPRICE LEVELSPRIVATE TRANSPORTPROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATIONPUBLIC FINANCESPUBLIC GOODPURCHASING POWERREGIME CHANGEREGULAR GASOLINERESTRICTIONSROADROAD TRAFFICROAD TRANSPORTROADSSAFETYTAXTAX REVENUETAX REVENUESTRANSPORTATIONTRAVEL DISTANCESTRUEUTILITIESVEHICLESVOTERSWEALTHWORLD MARKETWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6470