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The adoption of energy innovations: Imperfect information, network infrastructure, and intertemporal preferences
Titre du projet
The adoption of energy innovations: Imperfect information, network infrastructure, and intertemporal preferences
Description
L’utilisation durable de l'énergie requiert l’adoption à large échelle de nouvelles technologies. Par ce projet, j’utilise des méthodes empiriques et expérimentales dans le but de comprendre les facteurs qui favorisent l’adoption de technologies à haute efficacité énergétique. Les résultats permettront d’améliorer l’élaboration des politiques publiques visant à accélérer la transition énergétique.
This proposal describes a research program focusing on the adoption of energy efficient technologies. Through three projects, I provide novel evidence on behavioral barriers to technology adoption, and derive insights on how policies can be designed to mitigate these barriers. First, I study investments in buildings energy efficiency, emphasizing a problem of asymmetric information between buyers and sellers, which induces an inefficiently low level of adoption. I apply theory and experimental methods developed in the general context of credence goods, and document how addressing the information problem can improve the effectiveness of traditional policies (such as subsidies offered through the Programme Bâtiment in Switzerland). Second, I provide empirical evidence on the role of network infrastructure for the adoption of electric vehicles. This project exploits 2010-2015 data from Norway, which experienced rapid deployment of this technology, and enables me to quantify the extent to which the provision of public charging stations affects the market share of electric vehicles. Given the high energy efficiency of electric motors and the large hydroelectric resources available in Switzerland, electric vehicles provide a promising avenue for the future development of mobility in Switzerland. Third, I study how individuals make intertemporal tradeoffs, which is one of the key drivers of investment behavior in general, and of the adoption of energy efficient technologies in particular. This contribution provides novel evidence on time preferences, and will thereby inform the design of policies affecting initial spending on efficient technologies vs. cost savings associated with lower fuel use later in the future. Taken together, results from this program will directly contribute to the formulation of effective policies incentivizing the adoption of new energy technologies, thereby inducing a large-scale change in behavior corresponding to the ambitious 2050 energy strategy of Switzerland.
This proposal describes a research program focusing on the adoption of energy efficient technologies. Through three projects, I provide novel evidence on behavioral barriers to technology adoption, and derive insights on how policies can be designed to mitigate these barriers. First, I study investments in buildings energy efficiency, emphasizing a problem of asymmetric information between buyers and sellers, which induces an inefficiently low level of adoption. I apply theory and experimental methods developed in the general context of credence goods, and document how addressing the information problem can improve the effectiveness of traditional policies (such as subsidies offered through the Programme Bâtiment in Switzerland). Second, I provide empirical evidence on the role of network infrastructure for the adoption of electric vehicles. This project exploits 2010-2015 data from Norway, which experienced rapid deployment of this technology, and enables me to quantify the extent to which the provision of public charging stations affects the market share of electric vehicles. Given the high energy efficiency of electric motors and the large hydroelectric resources available in Switzerland, electric vehicles provide a promising avenue for the future development of mobility in Switzerland. Third, I study how individuals make intertemporal tradeoffs, which is one of the key drivers of investment behavior in general, and of the adoption of energy efficient technologies in particular. This contribution provides novel evidence on time preferences, and will thereby inform the design of policies affecting initial spending on efficient technologies vs. cost savings associated with lower fuel use later in the future. Taken together, results from this program will directly contribute to the formulation of effective policies incentivizing the adoption of new energy technologies, thereby inducing a large-scale change in behavior corresponding to the ambitious 2050 energy strategy of Switzerland.
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- PublicationMétadonnées seulement
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- PublicationMétadonnées seulementAsymmetric information on the market for energy efficiency: Insights from the credence goods literatureImperfect information is widely acknowledged to hamper the adoption of energy efficient technologies. In this paper, we study supply-side implications of theassociated incentive structure. We build on existing evidence suggesting that energyefficiency owns a credence component, whereby the supply side of the market hasmore information about what technology is best for consumers. The literature oncredence goods markets suggests that informational advantage by an expert-seller leads to market inefficiencies, including low trade volume. We start by developing a simple framework to study supply-side incentives related to the provision of energy efficient technologies. We then document inefficiencies and potential remediesby discussing linkages between an empirical literature on credence goods and thaton the market for energy efficiency. Doing so, we identify policy implications andresearch gaps that are relevant for the adoption of energy efficiency technologies.
- PublicationMétadonnées seulement
- PublicationMétadonnées seulement
- PublicationAccès libreTechnology Adoption and Early Network Infrastructure Provision in the Market for Electric Vehicles(2022)
; ; We document non-linear stock effects in the relationship linking emerging technology adoption and network infrastructure increments. We exploit 2010–2017 data covering nascent to mature electric vehicle (EV) markets across 422 Norwegian municipalities together with two complementary identification strategies: control function regressions of EV sales on flexible polynomials in the stock of charging stations and charging points, and synthetic control methods to quantify the impact of initial infrastructure provision in municipalities that previously had none. Our results are consistent with indirect network effects and the behavioral bias called “range anxiety,” and support policies targeting early infrastructure provision to incentivize EV adoption. - PublicationAccès libre
- PublicationAccès libre
- PublicationAccès libreReciprocity and gift exchange in markets for credence goods(2023)
; ; We study the role of reciprocity in markets where expert-sellers have more information about the severity of a problem faced by a consumer. We employ a standard experimental credence goods market to introduce the possibility for consumers to gift the expert-seller before the diagnostic, where the gift is either transferred unconditionally or conditionally on solving the problem. We find that both types of gifts increase the frequency of consumer-friendly actions relative to no gift, but only conditional gifts translate into efficiency gains when the consumer faces a high-severity problem. This suggests that partial alignment of incentives via conditional gifts may outweigh kindness motives when reciprocal actions are not directly observed. Using further treatments with surprise gift exchange, we show that withholding a gift that is expected by expert-sellers significantly reduces the likelihood of consumer-friendly behavior whereas sending a gift to expertsellers who do not expect one has no effect.