IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v68y2017is1p81-88.html

The impact of energy prices on product innovation: Evidence from the UK refrigerator market

Author

Listed:
  • Cohen, François
  • Glachant, Matthieu
  • Söderberg, Magnus

Abstract

This paper uses product-level data from the UK refrigerator market to evaluate the impact of electricity prices on product innovation. Our best estimate is that a 10% increase in the electricity price reduces the average energy consumption of commercialized refrigerator models by 2%. A large share of this reduction is explained by a reduction of freezing space. We also show that the exit of energy-inefficient products contributes more to energy reduction than the launch of new energy-efficient models. These findings suggest that innovation – the development of better technologies embodied in new products – does not respond strongly to energy price variations.

Suggested Citation

  • Cohen, François & Glachant, Matthieu & Söderberg, Magnus, 2017. "The impact of energy prices on product innovation: Evidence from the UK refrigerator market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(S1), pages 81-88.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:68:y:2017:i:s1:p:81-88
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2017.10.020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988317303614
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2017.10.020?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 look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:aen:journl:2010v31-01-a09 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Jerry Hausman & Gregory Leonard & J. Douglas Zona, 1994. "Competitive Analysis with Differentiated Products," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 34, pages 143-157.
    3. repec:adr:anecst:y:1994:i:34:p:06 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2005. "Simple solutions to the initial conditions problem in dynamic, nonlinear panel data models with unobserved heterogeneity," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(1), pages 39-54, January.
    5. Noailly, Joëlle, 2012. "Improving the energy efficiency of buildings: The impact of environmental policy on technological innovation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 795-806.
    6. Diaz Arias, Adriana & van Beers, Cees, 2013. "Energy subsidies, structure of electricity prices and technological change of energy use," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 495-502.
    7. Philippe Aghion & Antoine Dechezleprêtre & David Hémous & Ralf Martin & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Carbon Taxes, Path Dependency, and Directed Technical Change: Evidence from the Auto Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(1), pages 1-51.
    8. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Kelvin J. Lancaster, 1966. "A New Approach to Consumer Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(2), pages 132-132.
    10. David Popp, 2002. "Induced Innovation and Energy Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 160-180, March.
    11. Cohen, François & Glachant, Matthieu & Söderberg, Magnus, 2017. "Consumer myopia, imperfect competition and the energy efficiency gap: Evidence from the UK refrigerator market," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 1-23.
    12. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 287-343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Richard G. Newell & Adam B. Jaffe & Robert N. Stavins, 1999. "The Induced Innovation Hypothesis and Energy-Saving Technological Change," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 941-975.
    14. 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.
    15. Popp, David & Newell, Richard G. & Jaffe, Adam B., 2010. "Energy, the Environment, and Technological Change," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 873-937, Elsevier.
    16. Koichiro Ito, 2014. "Do Consumers Respond to Marginal or Average Price? Evidence from Nonlinear Electricity Pricing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 537-563, February.
    17. Panzone, Luca A., 2013. "Saving money vs investing money: Do energy ratings influence consumer demand for energy efficient goods?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 51-63.
    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. Anne Kesselring, 2023. "Willingness-to-Pay for Energy Efficiency: Evidence from the European Common Market," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(4), pages 893-945, December.
    2. Francois Cohen & Giulia Valacchi, 2022. "The Heterogeneous Impact of Coal Prices on the Location of Cleaner and Dirtier Steel Plants," The Energy Journal, , vol. 43(2), pages 67-90, March.
    3. Salim Turdaliev, 2021. "Increasing Block Rate Electricity Pricing and Propensity to Purchase Electrical Appliances: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Russia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Angelo Maiorino & Adrián Mota-Babiloni & Manuel Gesù Del Duca & Ciro Aprea, 2021. "Scheduling Optimization of a Cabinet Refrigerator Incorporating a Phase Change Material to Reduce Its Indirect Environmental Impact," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, April.
    5. Francois Cohen & Giulia Valacchi, 2017. "The Heterogeneous Impact of Coal Prices on the Location of Dirty and Clean Steel Plants," CIES Research Paper series 55-2017, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.
    6. Mingyue Wang & Yingming Li & Zitong Wang & Junqiang Li, 2022. "The Heterogeneous Relationship between Pollution Charges and Enterprise Green Technology Innovation, Based on the Data of Chinese Industrial Enterprises," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-20, February.
    7. Lin, Boqiang & Chen, Yufang, 2019. "Does electricity price matter for innovation in renewable energy technologies in China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 259-266.
    8. Francois Cohen & Giulia Valacchi, 2017. "Do firms innovate if they can relocate? Evidence from te steel industry," CIES Research Paper series 55-2017, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.

    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. Rik Rozendaal & Herman Vollebergh, 2025. "Policy-Induced Innovation in Clean Technologies: Evidence from the Car Market," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(3), pages 565-598.
    2. Marin, Giovanni & Palma, Alessandro, "undated". "Technology Invention and Diffusion in Residential Energy Consumption. A Stochastic Frontier Approach," Energy: Resources and Markets 230687, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    3. Marin, Giovanni & Palma, Alessandro, 2017. "Technology invention and adoption in residential energy consumption," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 85-98.
    4. Kim, Yeong Jae & Brown, Marilyn, 2019. "Impact of domestic energy-efficiency policies on foreign innovation: The case of lighting technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 539-552.
    5. Jeroen den Bergh & Ivan Savin, 2021. "Correction to: Impact of Carbon Pricing on Low-Carbon Innovation and Deep Decarbonisation: Controversies and Path Forward," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 80(4), pages 717-717, December.
    6. Herman, Kyle S. & Xiang, Jun, 2019. "Induced innovation in clean energy technologies from foreign environmental policy stringency?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 198-207.
    7. Noailly, Joëlle, 2012. "Improving the energy efficiency of buildings: The impact of environmental policy on technological innovation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 795-806.
    8. Wendler, Tobias & Töbelmann, Daniel & Günther, Jutta, 2021. "Natural resources and technology - on the mitigating effect of green tech," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242416, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Barbieri, Nicolò, 2015. "Investigating the impacts of technological position and European environmental regulation on green automotive patent activity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 140-152.
    10. Stern, Nicholas & Valero, Anna, 2021. "Innovation, growth and the transition to net-zero emissions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    11. Takahiko Kiso, 2019. "Environmental Policy and Induced Technological Change: Evidence from Automobile Fuel Economy Regulations," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(2), pages 785-810, October.
    12. Philippe Aghion & Antoine Dechezleprêtre & David Hémous & Ralf Martin & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Carbon Taxes, Path Dependency, and Directed Technical Change: Evidence from the Auto Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(1), pages 1-51.
    13. Cameron Hepburn & Jacquelyn Pless & David Popp, 2018. "Policy Brief—Encouraging Innovation that Protects Environmental Systems: Five Policy Proposals," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 12(1), pages 154-169.
    14. Nesta, Lionel & Vona, Francesco & Nicolli, Francesco, 2014. "Environmental policies, competition and innovation in renewable energy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 396-411.
    15. Costantini, Valeria & Crespi, Francesco & Palma, Alessandro, 2017. "Characterizing the policy mix and its impact on eco-innovation: A patent analysis of energy-efficient technologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 799-819.
    16. Francois Cohen & Giulia Valacchi, 2017. "Do firms innovate if they can relocate? Evidence from te steel industry," CIES Research Paper series 55-2017, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.
    17. Brehm, Johannes & aus dem Moore, Nils & Gruhl, Henri, 2022. "Driving Innovation? – Carbon Tax Effects in the Swedish Transport Sector," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264085, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    18. Juli√°n D. G√≥mez, 2018. "¬øQu√© determina la adopci√≥n de tecnolog√≠as para la generaci√≥n de energ√≠as renovables entre pa√≠ses?," Documentos CEDE 17132, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    19. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Matthieu Glachant, 2014. "Does Foreign Environmental Policy Influence Domestic Innovation? Evidence from the Wind Industry," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 58(3), pages 391-413, July.
    20. Juergen Kruse & Heike Wetzel, 2016. "Innovation in Clean Coal Technologies: Empirical Evidence from Firm-Level Patent Data," EWI Working Papers 2016-1, Energiewirtschaftliches Institut an der Universitaet zu Koeln (EWI).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • L68 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Appliances; Furniture; Other Consumer Durables
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation

    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:eee:eneeco:v:68:y:2017:i:s1:p:81-88. 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/eneco .

    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.