Inner conflict between nuclear power generation and electricity rates: A Japanese case study

Takanori Ida, Kosuke Takemura and Masayuki Sato ()

Energy Economics, 2015, vol. 48, issue C, 61-69

Abstract: Since the March 11 earthquake, Japanese households have been facing a trade-off problem between decreasing dependency on nuclear power generation and avoiding an increase in electricity rates. We analyze this inner conflict quantitatively, adopting two economic–psychological approaches: First, we note that the trade-off causes cognitive dissonance after making a choice that results in a wider desirability gap between the chosen and rejected alternatives. Second, the consumer surplus improves by 11.2% with a no-choice option for suspending judgment in the presence of cognitive dissonance. Third, individual characteristics such as gender and annual household income are significantly correlated with both cognitive dissonance and a preference for the no-choice option.

Keywords: Nuclear power; Cognitive dissonance; No-choice option; Discrete-choice experiment; Random parameter logit model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Working Paper: Inner Conflict between Nuclear Power Generation and Electricity Rates: A Japanese Case Study (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:48:y:2015:i:c:p:61-69

DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2014.11.019

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