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Socioeconomic Inequality in Low-Carbon Technology Adoption

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  • Burlinson, Andrew

    (University of East Anglia)

  • Davillas, Apostolos

    (University of Duisburg-Essen)

  • Giulietti, Monica

    (Loughborough University)

Abstract

The widespread consumer adoption of low-carbon technologies (LCTs) is a cornerstone of net zero targets worldwide, however LCTs may not be equally distributed across socioeconomic characteristics. Our paper contributes to the literature by exploring socioeconomic inequality in LCT adoption and its underlying sources. We exploit nationally representative longitudinal data on the adoption of three key LCTs (solar photovoltaics, solar heating, and electric vehicles) in the UK. We investigate the aggregate role of predetermined socio-economic factors (including family background) in determining socioeconomic inequalities in LCT adoption. We further contribute to the literature by employing Shapley-decomposition techniques to reveal the relative contribution of each socioeconomic factor to the total estimated socioeconomic inequality. Our results suggest that socioeconomic inequalities in LCT adoption have fallen over the last decade but remained prevalent and highly significant. Analysis on longitudinal LCT adoption patterns shows that those following transitory LCT adoption patterns, and especially those who have recently adopted LCTs, are contributing to the reduction in the observed socioeconomic inequalities over time. Policies targeting the most disadvantaged socioeconomic background groups are crucial to mitigate the observed inequalities, potentially holding back the low-carbon transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Burlinson, Andrew & Davillas, Apostolos & Giulietti, Monica, 2023. "Socioeconomic Inequality in Low-Carbon Technology Adoption," IZA Discussion Papers 16114, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16114
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    Cited by:

    1. Davillas, Apostolos & Jones, Andrew M, 2020. "Ex ante inequality of opportunity in health, decomposition and distributional analysis of biomarkers," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    2. Apostolos Davillas & Andrew M Jones, 2021. "The first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic and its impact on socioeconomic inequality in psychological distress in the UK," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 1668-1683, July.

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    JEL classification:

    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation
    • P46 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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