IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ajk/ajkdps/281.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Performative State Capacity and Climate (In)Action

Author

Listed:
  • Immanuel Feld

    (University of Warwick & Bonn and affiliated with CEPR, CAGE, NIESR, ECONtribute, Grantham Institute)

  • Thiemo Fetzer

    (Warwick University)

Abstract

Climate action requires significant public- and private sector investment to achieve meaningful reductions in carbon emissions. This paper documents that large-scale austerity, coupled with barriers to flows of data and a lack of (digital) skills in (local) government, may have been a significant barrier to delivering climate action in the form of retrofitting. Decomposing heterogeneity in esti-mated treatment effects of a large-scale energy efficiency savings program that was rolled out through a regression discontinuity design in the early 2010s, we find that both the extent of austerity-induced local budget cuts and poor digital connectivity – may be responsible for up to 30% fewer retrofit installations that counterfactually would have taken place had it not been for austerity.

Suggested Citation

  • Immanuel Feld & Thiemo Fetzer, 2024. "Performative State Capacity and Climate (In)Action," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 281, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:281
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econtribute.de/RePEc/ajk/ajkdps/ECONtribute_281_2024.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2024
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carlo Aall & Kyrre Groven & Gard Lindseth, 2007. "The Scope of Action for Local Climate Policy: The Case of Norway," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 7(2), pages 83-101, May.
    2. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2009. "The Origins of State Capacity: Property Rights, Taxation, and Politics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(4), pages 1218-1244, September.
    3. Sperling, Karl & Hvelplund, Frede & Mathiesen, Brian Vad, 2011. "Centralisation and decentralisation in strategic municipal energy planning in Denmark," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 1338-1351, March.
    4. Thiemo Fetzer & Srinjoy Sen & Pedro C L Souza, 2023. "Housing Insecurity and Homelessness: Evidence from the United Kingdom," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 526-559.
    5. Fetzer, Thiemo & Shaw, Callum & Edenhofer, Jacob, 2024. "Informational Boundaries of the State," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1487, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    6. Gilbert E. Metcalf & Kevin A. Hassett, 1999. "Measuring The Energy Savings From Home Improvement Investments: Evidence From Monthly Billing Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(3), pages 516-528, August.
    7. Bjorvatn, K. & Cappelen, A. W., 2003. "Inequality, segregation, and redistribution," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(7-8), pages 1657-1679, August.
    8. Carlo Mazzaferro & Alberto Zanardi, 2008. "Centralisation versus Decentralisation of Public Policies: Does the Heterogeneity of Individual Preferences Matter?," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 35-73, March.
    9. Melinda Fremerey & Andreas Lichter & Max Löffler, 2022. "Fiscal and Economic Effects of Local Austerity," CESifo Working Paper Series 9800, CESifo.
    10. Fetzer, Thiemo & Shaw, Callum & Edenhofer, Jacob, 2024. "Informational Boundaries of the State," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 697, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    11. Joshua Graff Zivin and Kevin Novan, 2016. "Upgrading Efficiency and Behavior: Electricity Savings from Residential Weatherization Programs," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    12. Pablo Balán & Augustin Bergeron & Gabriel Tourek & Jonathan L. Weigel, 2022. "Local Elites as State Capacity: How City Chiefs Use Local Information to Increase Tax Compliance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(3), pages 762-797, March.
    13. Thiemo Fetzer & Callum Shaw & Jacob Edenhofer, 2024. "Informational Boundaries of the State," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 282, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    14. Thiemo Fetzer & Callum Shaw & Jacob Edenhofer, 2024. "Informational Boundaries of the State," CESifo Working Paper Series 10901, CESifo.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Immanuel Feld & Thiemo Fetzer, 2024. "Performative State Capacity and Climate (In)Action," CESifo Working Paper Series 10990, CESifo.
    2. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet & Anna Petronevich & Laurent Faucheux, 2018. "How do lenders price energy efficiency? Evidence from posted interest rates for unsecured credit in France [Comment les créditeurs valorisent-ils l'efficacité énergétique? Une analyse des taux d'in," Working Papers hal-01890636, HAL.
    3. Meredith Fowlie & Michael Greenstone & Catherine Wolfram, 2018. "Do Energy Efficiency Investments Deliver? Evidence from the Weatherization Assistance Program," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1597-1644.
    4. Blonz, Joshua, 2018. "The Welfare Costs of Misaligned Incentives: Energy Inefficiency and the Principal-Agent Problem," RFF Working Paper Series 18-28, Resources for the Future.
    5. Giraudet, Louis-Gaëtan, 2020. "Energy efficiency as a credence good: A review of informational barriers to energy savings in the building sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    6. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet & Antoine Missemer, 2019. "The Economics of Energy Efficiency, a Historical Perspective," CIRED Working Papers halshs-02301636, HAL.
    7. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet & Antoine Missemer, 2023. "The History of Energy Efficiency in Economics: Breakpoints and Regularities," Post-Print halshs-02301636, HAL.
    8. Sperling, K. & Arler, F., 2020. "Local government innovation in the energy sector: A study of key actors’ strategies and arguments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    9. Joshua Blonz, 2019. "The Welfare Costs of Misaligned Incentives: Energy Inefficiency and the Principal-Agent Problem," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2019-071, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    10. Ricardo Dahis & Christiane Szerman, 2024. "Decentralizing Development: Evidence from Government Splits," CESifo Working Paper Series 10927, CESifo.
    11. Lauren Giandomenico & Maya Papineau & Nicholas Rivers, 2022. "A Systematic Review of Energy Efficiency Home Retrofit Evaluation Studies," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 689-708, October.
    12. Giraudet, Louis-Gaëtan & Petronevich, Anna & Faucheux, Laurent, 2021. "Differentiated green loans," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    13. Lang, Ghislaine & Lanz, Bruno, 2022. "Climate policy without a price signal: Evidence on the implicit carbon price of energy efficiency in buildings," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    14. Damsø, Tue & Kjær, Tyge & Christensen, Thomas Budde, 2016. "Local climate action plans in climate change mitigation – examining the case of Denmark," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 74-83.
    15. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet & Sébastien Houde & Joseph Maher, 2018. "Moral Hazard and the Energy Efficiency Gap: Theory and Evidence," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(4), pages 755-790.
    16. Ricardo Dahis & Christiane Szerman, 2023. "Decentralizing Development: Evidence from Government Splits," Monash Economics Working Papers 2023-18, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    17. Dahis, Ricardo & Szerman, Christiane, 2024. "Decentralizing Development: Evidence from Government Splits," IZA Discussion Papers 16761, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet, 2018. "Energy efficiency as a credence good: A review of informational barriers to building energy savings," Working Papers 2018.07, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    19. Hondeborg, Dianne & Probst, Benedict & Petkov, Ivalin & Knoeri, Christof, 2023. "The effectiveness of building retrofits under a subsidy scheme: Empirical evidence from Switzerland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    20. Esteban Muñoz-Sobrado & Amedeo Piolatto & Antoine Zerbini & Federica Braccioli, 2024. "The Taxing Challenges of the State: Unveiling the Role of Fiscal & Administrative Capacity in Development," Working Papers 1432, Barcelona School of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    state capacity; austerity; skills; climate action; public economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy
    • H76 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Other Expenditure Categories
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:281. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ECONtribute Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.econtribute.de .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.