IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/eth/wpswif/19-315.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Energy-related financial literacy and bounded rationality in appliance replacement attitudes: Evidence from Nepal

Author

Listed:
  • Massimo Filippini

    (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)

  • Nilkanth Kumar

    (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)

  • Suchita Srinivasan

    (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)

Abstract

Bounded rationality is an example of an important behavioral failure responsible for the energy-efficiency gap, whereby agents under-invest in energy-efficient technologies. One means of addressing this is by improving the energy-related financial literacy of households, which is defined as the combination of energy knowledge and cognitive abilities that are needed in order for agents to take sound decisions with respect to investment in durables. This has been found to improve the ability of agents to calculate the lifetime costs of technologies. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the determinants of energy-related financial literacy of respondents from about 2000 urban households in the Terai region of Nepal, and to analyze whether this ability has an effect on replacement attitudes of households regarding inefficient technologies. Using a novel household survey data, we find that respondents have low levels of energy-related financial literacy. While we find differences in the role of some socio-economic determinants of energy-related financial literacy compared to previous studies from developed countries, we also find certain common results, such as female respondents having lower scores. Additionally, we find that higher levels of energy-related financial literacy, especially stronger computational abilities, lead to more rational attitudes with regards to replacement of old appliances. As development has brought, and continues to bring, more households in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) closer to technologies of their liking, ensuring the adoption of energy-efficient technologies may be critical for ensuring sustainable development in the decades to come, and higher energy-related financial literacy may be one means of achieving that.

Suggested Citation

  • Massimo Filippini & Nilkanth Kumar & Suchita Srinivasan, 2019. "Energy-related financial literacy and bounded rationality in appliance replacement attitudes: Evidence from Nepal," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 19/315, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    • Handle: RePEc:eth:wpswif:19-315
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/mtec/cer-eth/cer-eth-dam/documents/working-papers/WP-19-315.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    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. Blasch, Julia & Boogen, Nina & Filippini, Massimo & Kumar, Nilkanth, 2017. "Explaining electricity demand and the role of energy and investment literacy on end-use efficiency of Swiss households," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(S1), pages 89-102.
    3. Blasch, Julia & Filippini, Massimo & Kumar, Nilkanth, 2019. "Boundedly rational consumers, energy and investment literacy, and the display of information on household appliances," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 39-58.
    4. Catherine Wolfram & Orie Shelef & Paul Gertler, 2012. "How Will Energy Demand Develop in the Developing World?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(1), pages 119-138, Winter.
    5. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2014. "The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(1), pages 5-44, March.
    6. Bruhn, Miriam & Lara Ibarra, Gabriel & McKenzie, David, 2014. "The minimal impact of a large-scale financial education program in Mexico City," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 184-189.
    7. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell & Vilsa Curto, 2009. "Financial Literacy among the Young: Evidence and Implications for Consumer Policy," NBER Working Papers 15352, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell & Vilsa Curto, 2009. "Financial Literacy among the Young," Working Papers wp191, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    9. Stern,Nicholas, 2007. "The Economics of Climate Change," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521700801.
    10. Lusardi, Annamaria & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2007. "Baby Boomer retirement security: The roles of planning, financial literacy, and housing wealth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 205-224, January.
    11. Xu, Lisa & Zia, Bilal, 2012. "Financial literacy around the world : an overview of the evidence with practical suggestions for the way forward," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6107, The World Bank.
    12. Jerry A. Hausman, 1979. "Individual Discount Rates and the Purchase and Utilization of Energy-Using Durables," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 33-54, Spring.
    13. Marc Jeuland & Subhrendu K. Pattanayak & Randall Bluffstone, 2015. "The Economics of Household Air Pollution," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 81-108, October.
    14. Brounen, Dirk & Kok, Nils & Quigley, John M., 2013. "Energy literacy, awareness, and conservation behavior of residential households," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 42-50.
    15. Lusardi, Annamaria & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2011. "Financial literacy around the world: an overview," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 497-508, October.
    16. Hunt Allcott & Michael Greenstone, 2012. "Is There an Energy Efficiency Gap?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(1), pages 3-28, Winter.
    17. Mills, Bradford & Schleich, Joachim, 2012. "Residential energy-efficient technology adoption, energy conservation, knowledge, and attitudes: An analysis of European countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 616-628.
    18. Kamer Karakurum-Ozdemir & Melike Kokkizil & Gokce Uysal, 2019. "Financial Literacy in Developing Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 325-353, May.
    19. Schleich, Joachim, 2009. "Barriers to energy efficiency: A comparison across the German commercial and services sector," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 2150-2159, May.
    20. Jacobsen, Grant D., 2015. "Do energy prices influence investment in energy efficiency? Evidence from energy star appliances," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 94-106.
    21. Jaffe, Adam B. & Stavins, Robert N., 1994. "The energy-efficiency gap What does it mean?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(10), pages 804-810, October.
    22. Julia Blasch & Massimo Filippini & Nilkanth Kumar & Adan Martinez-Cruz, 2017. "Narrowing the energy efficiency gap: The impact of educational programs, online support tools and energy-related investment literacy," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 17/276, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    23. Nilkanth Kumar, 2019. "A model-based clustering approach for analyzing energy-related financial literacy and its determinants," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 19/312, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    24. Julia Blasch & Nina Boogen & Claudio Daminato & Massimo Filippini, 2018. "Empower the consumer! Energy-related financial literacy and its socioeconomic determinants," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 18/289, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    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. M. del Mar Solà & A. de Ayala & I. Galarraga, 2021. "The Effect of Providing Monetary Information on Energy Savings for Household Appliances: A Field Trial in Spain," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 279-310, June.
    2. Ana Martins & Mara Madaleno & Marta Ferreira Dias, 2020. "Financial Knowledge’s Role in Portuguese Energy Literacy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-22, July.
    3. Broberg, Thomas & Kažukauskas, Andrius, 2021. "Information policies and biased cost perceptions - The case of Swedish residential energy consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    4. Paweł Białynicki-Birula & Kamil Makieła & Łukasz Mamica, 2022. "Energy Literacy and Its Determinants among Students within the Context of Public Intervention in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-20, July.
    5. Teija Keränen & Heidi Enwald, 2023. "Everyday Energy Information Literacy and Attitudes towards Energy-Related Decisions: Gender Differences among Finns," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, June.
    6. Nilkanth Kumar & Nirmal Kumar Raut & Suchita Srinivasan, 2022. "Herd behavior in the choice of motorcycles: Evidence from Nepal," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 22/366, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    7. Bożena Gajdzik & Radosław Wolniak & Rafał Nagaj & Brigita Žuromskaitė-Nagaj & Wieslaw Wes Grebski, 2024. "The Influence of the Global Energy Crisis on Energy Efficiency: A Comprehensive Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-51, February.
    8. Panu Kalmi & Gianluca Trotta & Andrius Kažukauskas, 2021. "Energy‐related financial literacy and electricity consumption: Survey‐based evidence from Finland," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 1062-1089, September.
    9. Bharadwaj, Bishal & Subedi, Mukti Nath & Malakar, Yuwan & Ashworth, Peta, 2023. "Low-capacity decentralized electricity systems limit the adoption of electronic appliances in rural Nepal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    10. Asmare, Fissha & Giedraitis, Vincentas & Jaraitė, Jūratė & Kažukauskas, Andrius, 2023. "Energy-related financial literacy and retrofits of Soviet-era apartment buildings: The case of Lithuania," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    11. Oscar S. Santillán & Karla G. Cedano, 2023. "Energy Literacy: A Systematic Review of the Scientific Literature," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-19, October.
    12. Malla, Sunil, 2022. "An outlook of end-use energy demand based on a clean energy and technology transformation of the household sector in Nepal," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PB).

    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. Panu Kalmi & Gianluca Trotta & Andrius Kažukauskas, 2021. "Energy‐related financial literacy and electricity consumption: Survey‐based evidence from Finland," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 1062-1089, September.
    2. Asmare, Fissha & Giedraitis, Vincentas & Jaraitė, Jūratė & Kažukauskas, Andrius, 2023. "Energy-related financial literacy and retrofits of Soviet-era apartment buildings: The case of Lithuania," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    3. Samdruk Dharshing & Stefanie Lena Hille, 2017. "The Energy Paradox Revisited: Analyzing the Role of Individual Differences and Framing Effects in Information Perception," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 485-508, December.
    4. Ana Martins & Mara Madaleno & Marta Ferreira Dias, 2020. "Financial Knowledge’s Role in Portuguese Energy Literacy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-22, July.
    5. Brent, Daniel A. & Ward, Michael B., 2018. "Energy efficiency and financial literacy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 181-216.
    6. Schleich, Joachim & Gassmann, Xavier & Faure, Corinne & Meissner, Thomas, 2016. "Making the implicit explicit: A look inside the implicit discount rate," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 321-331.
    7. Broberg, Thomas & Kažukauskas, Andrius, 2021. "Information policies and biased cost perceptions - The case of Swedish residential energy consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    8. Agarwal, Sumit & Amromin, Gene & Ben-David, Itzhak & Chomsisengphet, Souphala & Evanoff, Douglas D., 2015. "Financial literacy and financial planning: Evidence from India," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 4-21.
    9. Blasch, Julia & Filippini, Massimo & Kumar, Nilkanth, 2019. "Boundedly rational consumers, energy and investment literacy, and the display of information on household appliances," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 39-58.
    10. Remya Tressa Jacob & Rudra Sensarma, 2022. "Does knowledge empower? A story of debt literacy and credit usage in rural consumer finance," Working papers 529, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
    11. Trotta, Gianluca, 2018. "Factors affecting energy-saving behaviours and energy efficiency investments in British households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 529-539.
    12. Julia Blasch & Claudio Daminato, 2018. "Behavioral anomalies and energy-related individual choices: the role of status-quo bias," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 18/300, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    13. Andor, Mark A. & Frondel, Manuel & Gerster, Andreas & Sommer, Stephan, 2019. "Cognitive reflection and the valuation of energy efficiency," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(S1).
    14. Henningsen, Geraldine & Wiese, Catharina, 2019. "Do Household Characteristics Really Matter? A Meta-Analysis on the Determinants of Households’ Energy-Efficiency Investments," MPRA Paper 101701, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Grohmann, Antonia & Kouwenberg, Roy & Menkhoff, Lukas, 2014. "Financial literacy and its consequences in the emerging middleclass," Kiel Working Papers 1943, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    16. Todd D. Gerarden & Richard G. Newell & Robert N. Stavins, 2017. "Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1486-1525, December.
    17. Noviarini, Jelita & Coleman, Andrew & Roberts, Helen & Whiting, Rosalind H., 2023. "Financial literacy and retirees' resource allocation decisions in New Zealand," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    18. Fischbacher, Urs & Schudy, Simeon & Teyssier, Sabrina, 2021. "Heterogeneous preferences and investments in energy saving measures," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    19. Grohmann, Antonia, 2018. "Financial literacy and financial behavior: Evidence from the emerging Asian middle class," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 129-143.
    20. Häckel, Björn & Pfosser, Stefan & Tränkler, Timm, 2017. "Explaining the energy efficiency gap - Expected Utility Theory versus Cumulative Prospect Theory," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 414-426.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bounded rationality; Energy literacy; Financial literacy; Households; Nepal;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

    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:eth:wpswif:19-315. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwethch.html .

    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.