The Guy at the Controls: Labor Quality and Power Plant Efficiency

James Bushnell and Catherine Wolfram

No 13215, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of individual human operators on the fuel efficiency of power plants. Although electricity generation is a fuel and capital intensive enterprise, anecdotal evidence, interviews, and empirical analysis support the hypothesis that labor, particularly power plant operators, can have a non-trivial impact on the operating efficiency of the plant. We present evidence to demonstrate these effects and survey the policies and practices of electricity producing firms that either reduce or exacerbate fuel efficiency differences across individual plant operators.

JEL-codes: J24 L51 L94 M54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff and nep-ene
Note: EEE IO
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published as The Guy at the Controls: Labor Quality and Power Plant Efficiency , James B. Bushnell, Catherine Wolfram. in International Differences in the Business Practices and Productivity of Firms , Freeman and Shaw. 2009

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Chapter: The Guy at the Controls: Labor Quality and Power Plant Efficiency (2009)
Working Paper: The Guy at the Controls: Labor Quality and Power Plant Efficiency (2009)
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