Are Consumers Attentive to Local Energy Costs? Evidence from the Appliance Market

Sébastien Houde and Erica Myers

No 25591, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We estimate whether consumers respond to local energy costs when purchasing appliances. Using a dataset from an appliance retailer, we compare demand responsiveness to a measure of energy costs that varies with local energy prices versus purchase prices. We strongly reject that consumers are unresponsive to local energy costs under a wide range of assumptions. These findings run counter to the popular wisdom, which motivates energy standards, that energy costs are a shrouded attribute. Capital investments are an important channel for electricity demand response and may explain some of the large differences between short and long run electricity price elasticities.

JEL-codes: D12 D83 Q41 Q50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene and nep-reg
Note: EEE
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published as Sébastien Houde & Erica Myers, 2021. "Are consumers attentive to local energy costs? Evidence from the appliance market," Journal of Public Economics, vol 201.

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Journal Article: Are consumers attentive to local energy costs? Evidence from the appliance market (2021)
Working Paper: Are Consumers Attentive to Local Energy Costs? Evidence from the Appliance Market (2019)
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