Modelling thermal insulation investment choice in the EU via a behaviourally informed agent-based model

Giulia Chersoni, Nives DellaValle and Magda Fontana
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Nives DellaValle

Energy Policy, 2022, vol. 163, issue C

Abstract: In spite of the established importance that retrofitting the existing building stock has in decreasing end-use carbon emissions and of the large availability of policies aimed at financially supporting renovations, investments in the residential sector remain below the optimal levels. The paper proposes an encompassing theoretical framework that merges economic, behavioural and social motives and suggests diverse policy instruments to promote retrofitting and their appropriate targets. The paper exploits the Consumers Survey data from the Second consumer market study on the functioning of the retail electricity markets for consumers in the EU (2016) to calibrate an agent-based model of the thermal insulation investment choice. The model simulates the investment choice of 19,538 homeowners based on their perceived financial situation and environmental concern, and introduces unobserved networks on which adoption by imitation occurs. We investigate the effect of a financial incentive, a pro-environmental campaign and a norm-based intervention on the adoption rate. Results show that the interplay between economic, behavioural, and social motives produces unexpected outcomes: policies that leverage only one motive are nonetheless affected by the others.

Keywords: Adoption of energy efficient technologies; Thermal insulation; Behavioural economics; Agent-based modelling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:163:y:2022:i:c:s0301421522000489

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112823

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