L'évaluation des coûts de changement de fournisseur sur le marché résidentiel de l'énergie. Synthèse des travaux menés au Royaume-Uni et en Suède

The switching costs perceived by the residential consumer who has to choose between suppliers is a recent concept. Nevertheless, it has led to important methodological and empirical developments in economic literature over the past decade. The valuation of switching costs is still fragile due to two difficulties : i) observation of consumer?s choices and ii) measure of utility variation. This paper discusses the framework and theoretical bases of valuation and the principal methods available. We also discuss the econometric models which reconstitute either a demand function (indirect methods) or the impact of change on the consumer?s surplus (direct methods). The application of the direct valuation method is illustrated by an implementation by Giuletti, Waddams Price and Paterson in 2003, namely a discrete choice model of the consumer?s behavior in the United Kingdom natural gas supply market.