Factors Determining the Adoption of Energy-Saving Technologies in Swiss Firms: An Analysis Based on Micro Data

Spyros Arvanitis and Marius Ley

Environmental & Resource Economics, 2013, vol. 54, issue 3, 389-417

Abstract: This study investigates the factors that determine firms’ decisions to adopt energysaving technologies. We distinguish between the decisions of whether or not to use a technology (“inter-firm diffusion”), and of how intensely to use a technology (“intra-firm diffusion”). The empirical model used accommodates several effects that have been postulated in the theoretical diffusion literature: firm and industry heterogeneity, strategic considerations and external effects. Data for 2,324 Swiss firms for the year 2008 is used, with separate information for four categories of energy-saving technology applications (electromechanical and electronic, motor vehicles and traffic engineering, construction, power-generating processes). The results reveal significant differences with respect to firm characteristics and adoption barriers between inter-firm and intrafirm diffusion. In practically all cases, positive net external effects of adoption can be found. Inducement effects, particularly those traced back to intrinsic motivations for environment-friendly technologies, show clearly positive effects on adoption behavior. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Keywords: Energy efficient technologies; Energy-saving technologies; Technology adoption; Technology diffusion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10640-012-9599-6

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