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Stranding ahoy? Heterogeneous transition beliefs and capital investment choices

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  • Cahen-Fourot, Louison
  • Campiglio, Emanuele
  • Daumas, Louis
  • Miess, Michael Gregor
  • Yardley, Andrew

Abstract

Individuals have heterogeneous beliefs regarding the future speed and shape of the low-carbon transition. In this paper, we study to what extent opinion diversity matters for aggregate capital investment decisions. We develop a model where firms formulate heterogeneous expectations around a dominant narrative, or ‘market norm’, with their dispersion increasing over a finite planning horizon. Our analytical and numerical results suggest that belief heterogeneity can significantly affect the share of low-carbon investments, with the strength of its effects non-linearly correlated to market norms. We show that investment behaviour tends to be more sensitive to shocks to short-term, rather than long-term, belief heterogeneity, highlighting the importance of setting credible short-term targets. Finally, we find beliefs to interact strongly and in non-trivial ways with measures of short-termism, with increasing agents' farsightedness not necessarily leading to less carbon-intensive investments under high heterogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Cahen-Fourot, Louison & Campiglio, Emanuele & Daumas, Louis & Miess, Michael Gregor & Yardley, Andrew, 2023. "Stranding ahoy? Heterogeneous transition beliefs and capital investment choices," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 535-567.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:216:y:2023:i:c:p:535-567
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.10.028
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Asset stranding; Beliefs; Heterogeneous expectations; Investment choices; Low-carbon transition; Short-termism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • E71 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on the Macro Economy
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

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