Behavioural constraints in energy technology uptake: Evidence from real-purchase offers in rural Rwanda and Senegal

Gunther Bensch and Michael Grimm

No 1081, Ruhr Economic Papers from RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen

Abstract: Energy-efficient biomass cookstoves and small solar systems play a vital role in the transition to clean energy. Despite their affordability and scalability, their uptake remains low among households in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper examines the potential contribution of individual-specific behavioural factors to the under-adoption of these technologies. Drawing on data from real-purchase offers in rural Rwanda and Senegal, the analysis focuses on how the willingness to pay for the technologies varies with behavioural constraints including risk aversion, innovation resistance, time preferences, and beliefs. Our results confirm that these factors carry relevant variation that helps understanding the purchase decision process. These findings contribute to a better comprehension of consumer adoption behaviour of innovative consumer goods at the base of the pyramid, providing valuable insights for suppliers entering these markets and informing policy interventions aimed at facilitating households' transition to clean energy.

Keywords: Base of the pyramid; energy transition; willingness to pay; household decision; behaviour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 O12 O13 O33 Q41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm and nep-ene
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:rwirep:298848

DOI: 10.4419/96973255

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