Pro-Environmental Households and Energy Efficiency in Spain

35 Pages Posted: 2 Jul 2015

See all articles by Ana Ramos

Ana Ramos

University of Vigo - Faculty of Economics and Business

Xavier Labandeira

University of Vigo - Faculty of Economics and Business

Andreas Löschel

University of Muenster - Chair of Microeconomics, esp. Energy and Resource Economics

Date Written: April 2015

Abstract

The residential building sector is a major driver of current and future energy consumption and associated emissions, which can be potentially mitigated through significant energy-efficiency (EE) improvements in both emerging and developed countries. Yet, there are several persistent barriers that hinder the attainment of EE improvements in this area. Using data from a 2008 national representative survey of Spanish households, this paper is interested in the determinants of EE-related decisions. In particular, a discrete-choice model empirically analyzes whether pro-environmental households are more likely to invest in EE and to adopt daily energy-saving habits. We show that households with eco-friendly behaviors are more likely to investment in well-differentiated EE measures as well as to steer daily habits towards energy savings. However, no effects are found for households with environmental attitudes based on stated willingness to pay to protect the environment. In addition to this, households belonging to higher income groups and education levels are more likely to invest in EE but not to adopt energy-saving habits; while households with older members are less likely to invest in EE and show fewer eco-friendly habits.

Keywords: Energy efficiency, investment, behavior, habits

JEL Classification: Q41, Q48, Q58

Suggested Citation

Ramos, Ana and Labandeira, Xavier and Löschel, Andreas, Pro-Environmental Households and Energy Efficiency in Spain (April 2015). Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Research Paper No. RSCAS 2015/18, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2625560 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2625560

Ana Ramos (Contact Author)

University of Vigo - Faculty of Economics and Business ( email )

Campus as Lagoas
Ourense, Ourense 32004
Spain

Xavier Labandeira

University of Vigo - Faculty of Economics and Business ( email )

As Lagoas Marcosende s/n
Vigo, Galiza E36310
Spain

Andreas Löschel

University of Muenster - Chair of Microeconomics, esp. Energy and Resource Economics ( email )

Universitätsstr. 14-16
48143 Munster
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.wiwi.uni-muenster.de/eroe

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
39
Abstract Views
2,062
PlumX Metrics