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Heterogeneity in the Rebound Effect: Evidence from Efficient Lighting Subsidies

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  • Ensieh Shojaeddini

    (National Center for Environmental Economics, US EPA)

Abstract

This paper quantifies heterogeneity in rebound effects from policy-induced energy efficiency improvements by income and home size. We do so in a relatively understudied context: residential lighting. This context allows us to separately estimate effects for energy services (lighting hours) and electricity consumption. We identify the effect of household-level subsidy uptake using instrumental variables for program awareness and coarsened exact matching. We find that rebound effects are larger for households with lower incomes and smaller homes. We also show that the rebound effect is not large enough to ``backfire'' and all income and size subsamples exhibit net energy savings.

Suggested Citation

  • Ensieh Shojaeddini, 2020. "Heterogeneity in the Rebound Effect: Evidence from Efficient Lighting Subsidies," Working Papers 2020-07, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Economics and Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:mns:wpaper:wp202007
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    rebound effect; heterogeneity; energy efficiency policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • L68 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Appliances; Furniture; Other Consumer Durables
    • Q14 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Finance

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