PhD Candidate: Mehmet Akif Ağlar

Dissertation Title: “Three Essays in Energy and Environmental Economics”

Abstract: 

This dissertation studies how energy prices and energy market institutions shape household spending, inequality, and technology adoption. Using household-level data from multiple sources, it examines how energy-related shocks and policy changes affect behavior in both the short-run and the long-run. One essay shows that sharp and highly visible gasoline price shocks in California in Fall 2022 and Fall 2023 reduced households' average weekly non-gasoline retail spending by about 8 percent relative to comparison states, with the largest declines concentrated in food-at-home purchases and with stronger spending reductions among low-income households. A second essay examines residential energy expenditures and shows that Black households face higher energy expenditures than comparable White households, with substantial heterogeneity by income and tenure. Decomposition results indicate that location, climate, household composition, and heating fuel choices explain an important share of both the cross-sectional gap and its decline over time, while a sizable unexplained component remains. A third essay studies the restructuring of the U.S. natural gas market and shows that it increased natural gas adoption for space heating and water heating in newly built homes, especially in the Northeast and South, suggesting that energy market reforms can shape durable household technology choices and contribute to technology lock-in in residential fuel choice. Overall, the dissertation shows that energy markets affect households through short-run budget pressure, persistent disparities in energy expenditures, and long-run changes in residential fuel choice that matter for electrification and emissions.

Committee:

Dr. Casey J. Wichman (Co-Chair), Associate Professor, School of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Robert I. Harris (Co-Chair), Assistant Professor, School of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Dylan T. Brewer, Assistant Professor, School of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Matthew E. Oliver, Associate Professor, School of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Anthony Harding, Assistant Professor, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology

Date: 04/01/2026

Location: Swann Conference Room 123

Time: 1:00 - 3:00 PM