Heterogeneous impacts of fear and policy on building energy use during COVID-19 in South Korea.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic created a unique natural experiment in energy consumption, fundamentally reshaping demand. We analyzed electricity use in over one million South Korean buildings across six functional categories (May 2020 to April 2022). Using a panel regression with an instrumental variable strategy, we disentangle fear-driven behavioral responses (proxied by local mortality) from policy-driven mandates. Our empirical findings reveal heterogeneous impacts: fear reduced industrial and civic/business electricity use, yet counterintuitively increased residential and commercial/retail demand, often driven by safety signaling (e.g., enhanced ventilation). Stricter anti-contagion policies increased energy intensity in most nonresidential buildings due to compliance with heightened ventilat

SUBMITTER: Yoo J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12809739 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature