IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v137y2017icp163-172.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the links between community-based governance and sustainable energy use: Quantitative evidence from Flanders

Author

Listed:
  • Bauwens, Thomas
  • Eyre, Nick

Abstract

Community-based energy organizations have been said to influence their members' energy-related behavior by activating social norms and by providing trustworthy information about sustainable energy investments and behaviors. However, little is known yet about members' actual energy use and how it differs from that of individuals who do not participate in such projects. In particular, selection effects are likely to arise, i.e. community-based energy projects may attract people that are different from the underlying population in terms of energy use. This article empirically addresses the question of the selection into community-based energy projects in terms of energy use, focusing on the case of renewable energy cooperatives. Based on quantitative data from an original survey conducted with one renewable energy cooperative in Flanders and using probit regression analyses, it contrasts a sample of cooperative members with an appropriate comparison group in terms of electricity usage. The results show that electricity consumption is positively related with cooperative membership, suggesting that high use consumers have greater incentives to join a community-based organization which provides assistance and advice on the adoption of green technologies and energy efficiency measures. These findings contribute to an understanding of the relationship between community-based governance and sustainable energy practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Bauwens, Thomas & Eyre, Nick, 2017. "Exploring the links between community-based governance and sustainable energy use: Quantitative evidence from Flanders," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 163-172.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:137:y:2017:i:c:p:163-172
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.03.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800915300793
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.03.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kenneth Gillingham & Karen Palmer, 2014. "Bridging the Energy Efficiency Gap: Policy Insights from Economic Theory and Empirical Evidence," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 8(1), pages 18-38, January.
    2. Seyfang, Gill, 2010. "Community action for sustainable housing: Building a low-carbon future," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 7624-7633, December.
    3. Linden, Anna-Lisa & Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika & Eriksson, Bjorn, 2006. "Efficient and inefficient aspects of residential energy behaviour: What are the policy instruments for change?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(14), pages 1918-1927, September.
    4. Nyborg, Karine & Howarth, Richard B. & Brekke, Kjell Arne, 2006. "Green consumers and public policy: On socially contingent moral motivation," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 351-366, November.
    5. Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis, 2002. "Social Capital and Community Governance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(483), pages 419-436, November.
    6. Stern,Nicholas, 2007. "The Economics of Climate Change," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521700801.
    7. Ek, Kristina & Söderholm, Patrik, 2008. "Norms and economic motivation in the Swedish green electricity market," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1-2), pages 169-182, December.
    8. Bound, John & Brown, Charles & Mathiowetz, Nancy, 2001. "Measurement error in survey data," Handbook of Econometrics, in: J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 59, pages 3705-3843, Elsevier.
    9. Brekke, Kjell Arne & Kverndokk, Snorre & Nyborg, Karine, 2003. "An economic model of moral motivation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(9-10), pages 1967-1983, September.
    10. Litvine, Dorian & Wüstenhagen, Rolf, 2011. "Helping "light green" consumers walk the talk: Results of a behavioural intervention survey in the Swiss electricity market," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 462-474, January.
    11. Wicker, Pamela & Becken, Susanne, 2013. "Conscientious vs. ambivalent consumers: Do concerns about energy availability and climate change influence consumer behaviour?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 41-48.
    12. Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis, 2009. "Beyond Enlightened Self-Interest: Social Norms, Other-Regarding Preferences, and Cooperative Behavior," Springer Series in Game Theory, in: Simon A. Levin (ed.), Games, Groups, and the Global Good, pages 57-78, Springer.
    13. Ernst Fehr & Urs Fischbacher, "undated". "Why Social Preferences Matter - The Impact of Non-Selfish Motives on Competition," IEW - Working Papers 084, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    14. Elinor Ostrom, 2000. "Collective Action and the Evolution of Social Norms," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 137-158, Summer.
    15. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9-10), pages 1082-1095, October.
    16. Elinor Ostrom, 2016. "Nested Externalities and Polycentric Institutions: Must We Wait for Global Solutions to Climate Change Before Taking Actions at Other Scales?," Studies in Economic Theory, in: Graciela Chichilnisky & Armon Rezai (ed.), The Economics of the Global Environment, pages 259-276, Springer.
    17. Bauwens, Thomas, 2016. "Explaining the diversity of motivations behind community renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 278-290.
    18. Harriet Bulkeley & Kristine Kern, 2006. "Local Government and the Governing of Climate Change in Germany and the UK," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 43(12), pages 2237-2259, November.
    19. Stavins, Robert N., 1997. "Policy Instruments for Climate Change: How Can National Governments Address a Global Problem?," Discussion Papers 10757, Resources for the Future.
    20. Paul C. Stern & Elliot Aronson & John M. Darley & Daniel H. Hill & Eric Hirst & Willett Kempton & Thomas J. Wilbanks, 1986. "The Effectiveness of Incentives for Residential Energy Conservation," Evaluation Review, , vol. 10(2), pages 147-176, April.
    21. Daniel H. Cole, 2015. "Advantages of a polycentric approach to climate change policy," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 5(2), pages 114-118, February.
    22. Brounen, Dirk & Kok, Nils & Quigley, John M., 2012. "Residential energy use and conservation: Economics and demographics," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(5), pages 931-945.
    23. Ohler, Adrienne M. & Billger, Sherrilyn M., 2014. "Does environmental concern change the tragedy of the commons? Factors affecting energy saving behaviors and electricity usage," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-12.
    24. Sandler,Todd, 2004. "Global Collective Action," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521834773.
    25. Mari Rege, 2004. "Social Norms and Private Provision of Public Goods," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 6(1), pages 65-77, February.
    26. Sandler,Todd, 2004. "Global Collective Action," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521542548.
    27. Heiskanen, Eva & Johnson, Mikael & Robinson, Simon & Vadovics, Edina & Saastamoinen, Mika, 2010. "Low-carbon communities as a context for individual behavioural change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 7586-7595, December.
    28. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9), pages 1082-1095.
    29. Ernst Fehr & Urs Fischbacher, 2002. "Why Social Preferences Matter -- The Impact of Non-Selfish Motives on Competition, Cooperation and Incentives," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(478), pages 1-33, March.
    30. Sardianou, Eleni, 2007. "Estimating energy conservation patterns of Greek households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3778-3791, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Romero-Castro, Noelia & Piñeiro-Chousa, Juan & Pérez-Pico, Ada, 2021. "Dealing with heterogeneity and complexity in the analysis of the willingness to invest in community renewable energy in rural areas," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    2. Bauwens, Thomas, 2019. "Analyzing the determinants of the size of investments by community renewable energy members: Findings and policy implications from Flanders," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 841-852.
    3. Ebers Broughel, Anna & Hampl, Nina, 2018. "Community financing of renewable energy projects in Austria and Switzerland: Profiles of potential investors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 722-736.
    4. Lanka Horstink & Julia M. Wittmayer & Kiat Ng & Guilherme Pontes Luz & Esther Marín-González & Swantje Gährs & Inês Campos & Lars Holstenkamp & Sem Oxenaar & Donal Brown, 2020. "Collective Renewable Energy Prosumers and the Promises of the Energy Union: Taking Stock," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-30, January.
    5. Roth, Lucas & Lowitzsch, Jens & Yildiz, Özgür, 2023. "Which (co-)ownership types in renewables are associated with the willingness to adopt energy-efficient technologies and energy-conscious behaviour? Data from German households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    6. Phu Nguyen-Van & Anne Stenger & Tuyen Tiet, 2021. "Social incentive factors in interventions promoting sustainable behaviors: A meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-27, December.
    7. Thomas Bauwens & Benjamin Huybrechts & Frédéric Dufays, 2020. "Understanding the Diverse Scaling Strategies of Social Enterprises as Hybrid Organizations," Post-Print hal-02312322, HAL.
    8. Guetlein, Marie-Charlotte & Schleich, Joachim, 2023. "Understanding citizen investment in renewable energy communities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    9. Bourcet, Clémence & Bovari, Emmanuel, 2020. "Exploring citizens' decision to crowdfund renewable energy projects: Quantitative evidence from France," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Lehtonen, Markku & de Carlo, Laurence, 2019. "Community energy and the virtues of mistrust and distrust: Lessons from Brighton and Hove energy cooperatives," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Beate Fischer & Gunnar Gutsche & Heike Wetzel, 2020. "Who wants to get involved? Determinants of citizens’ willingness to participate in German renewable energy cooperatives," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202027, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    12. Stauch, Alexander & Gamma, Karoline, 2020. "Cash vs. solar power: An experimental investigation of the remuneration-related design of community solar offerings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    13. Bauwens, Thomas & Hekkert, Marko & Kirchherr, Julian, 2020. "Circular futures: What Will They Look Like?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    14. Bauwens, Thomas & Devine-Wright, Patrick, 2018. "Positive energies? An empirical study of community energy participation and attitudes to renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 612-625.
    15. Qin, Yong & Xu, Zeshui & Wang, Xinxin & Škare, Marinko, 2022. "Green energy adoption and its determinants: A bibliometric analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    16. Thomas Hoppe & Frans H. J. M. Coenen & Maria T. Bekendam, 2019. "Renewable Energy Cooperatives as a Stimulating Factor in Household Energy Savings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-33, March.
    17. Peter Ansu Mensah & Monica Ansu Mensah, 2021. "Mapping evidence of individuals’ sustainable consumption behaviour and energy or transport use in Africa: A scoping review," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 10(6), pages 369-382, September.
    18. Lucas Roth & Özgür Yildiz & Jens Lowitzsch, 2021. "An Empirical Approach to Differences in Flexible Electricity Consumption Behaviour of Urban and Rural Populations—Lessons Learned in Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-31, August.
    19. Csutora, Maria & Zsoka, Agnes & Harangozo, Gabor, 2021. "The Grounded Survey – An integrative mixed method for scrutinizing household energy behavior," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    20. Ángeles Longarela-Ares & Anxo Calvo-Silvosa & José-Benito Pérez-López, 2020. "The Influence of Economic Barriers and Drivers on Energy Efficiency Investments in Maritime Shipping, from the Perspective of the Principal-Agent Problem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-42, September.

    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. Ohler, Adrienne M. & Billger, Sherrilyn M., 2014. "Does environmental concern change the tragedy of the commons? Factors affecting energy saving behaviors and electricity usage," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-12.
    2. Guy Meunier & Ingmar Schumacher, 2020. "The importance of considering optimal government policy when social norms matter for the private provision of public goods," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(3), pages 630-655, June.
    3. Trotta, Gianluca, 2018. "Factors affecting energy-saving behaviours and energy efficiency investments in British households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 529-539.
    4. Belaïd, Fateh & Garcia, Thomas, 2016. "Understanding the spectrum of residential energy-saving behaviours: French evidence using disaggregated data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 204-214.
    5. Kenichi Mizobuchi & Kenji Takeuchi, 2012. "The Influences of Economic and Psychological Factors on Energy-Saving Behavior: A Field Experiment in Matsuyama, Japan," Discussion Papers 1206, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    6. Brekke, Kjell Arne & Kipperberg, Gorm & Nyborg, Karine, 2009. "Reluctant Recyclers: Social Interaction in Responsibility Ascription," Memorandum 16/2007, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    7. Nøstbakken, Linda, 2013. "Formal and informal quota enforcement," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 191-215.
    8. A. Mantovani & O. Tarola & C. Vergari, 2014. "On the effect of social norms to reduce pollution," Working Papers wp950, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    9. Welsch, Heinz, 2022. "Do social norms trump rational choice in voluntary climate change mitigation? Multi-country evidence of social tipping points," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    10. Kuhn, Andreas & Schweri, Jürg & Wolter, Stefan C., 2022. "Local norms describing the role of the state and the private provision of training," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. Mizobuchi, Kenichi & Takeuchi, Kenji, 2013. "The influences of financial and non-financial factors on energy-saving behaviour: A field experiment in Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 775-787.
    12. Partha Dasgupta & Dale Southerton & Alistair Ulph & David Ulph, 2016. "Consumer Behaviour with Environmental and Social Externalities: Implications for Analysis and Policy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(1), pages 191-226, September.
    13. Hage, Olle & Söderholm, Patrik & Berglund, Christer, 2009. "Norms and economic motivation in household recycling: Empirical evidence from Sweden," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 155-165.
    14. Philippe Le Coent & Raphaële Preget & Sophie S. Thoyer, 2018. "Do farmers follow the herd? The influence of social norms in the participation to agri-environmental schemes," CEE-M Working Papers halshs-01936004, CEE-M, Universtiy of Montpellier, CNRS, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro.
    15. van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M. & Gowdy, John M., 2009. "A group selection perspective on economic behavior, institutions and organizations," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 1-20, October.
    16. Christophe Charlier, Gilles Guerassimoff, Ankinée Kirakozian, and Sandrine Selosse, 2021. "Under Pressure! Nudging Electricity Consumption within Firms. Feedback from a Field Experiment," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 129-154.
    17. Christiane Reif & Dirk Rübbelke & Andreas Löschel, 2017. "Improving Voluntary Public Good Provision Through a Non-governmental, Endogenous Matching Mechanism: Experimental Evidence," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 67(3), pages 559-589, July.
    18. Qin, Botao & Shogren, Jason, 2023. "Endogenous Social Norms, Mechanism Design, and Payment for Environmental Services," MPRA Paper 112878, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Dieckhoener, Caroline, 2012. "Does subsidizing investments in energy efficiency reduce energy consumption? Evidence from Germany," EWI Working Papers 2012-17, Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI).
    20. G. Ceccantoni & O. Tarola & C. Vergari, 2017. "Relative tax in a vertically differentiated market: the key role of consumers in environment," Working Papers wp2005, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.

    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:eee:ecolec:v:137:y:2017:i:c:p:163-172. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    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.