IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v91y2012i1p235-244.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of public acceptance of tiered electricity price reform in China: Evidence from four urban cities

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Zhaohua
  • Zhang, Bin
  • Zhang, Yixiang

Abstract

Tiered electricity price (TEP) reform is a planning policy for household electricity conservation in China. Based on TEP, several price hierarchies are provided, and additional payment will be charged if the electricity consumptions exceed the upper bound of each hierarchy. Yet, the optimal level of each price tier and the institutions for implementing TEP need further research, which are set on the basis of considering residents’ affordability and willingness to pay. Therefore, this paper aims at exploring determinants of public willingness to accept TEP and finding out the acceptable range of premium. A questionnaire survey in four urban cities of China is conducted to collect data, and an ordinary regression model is adopted in our analysis to identify the drivers and barriers to general public’s acceptance of TEP. The results show that middle income earners are the groups that are mostly opposed to TEP. Rather than just focusing on economic factors, public environmental awareness should be highlighted during the implementation of TEP, because cost is not a statistically significant determinant in this study. Moreover, the public acceptable rate of premium of TEP in the urban cities, according to our research results, may be below .05RMB/kWh.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Zhaohua & Zhang, Bin & Zhang, Yixiang, 2012. "Determinants of public acceptance of tiered electricity price reform in China: Evidence from four urban cities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 235-244.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:91:y:2012:i:1:p:235-244
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.09.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261911005617
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.09.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Scarpa, Riccardo & Willis, Ken, 2010. "Willingness-to-pay for renewable energy: Primary and discretionary choice of British households' for micro-generation technologies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 129-136, January.
    2. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    3. Fiorio, Carlo V. & Florio, Massimo, 2011. "«Would you say that the price you pay for electricity is fair?» Consumers' satisfaction and utility reforms in the EU15," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 178-187, March.
    4. Viklund, Mattias, 2004. "Energy policy options--from the perspective of public attitudes and risk perceptions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1159-1171, July.
    5. Schoengold, Karina, 2010. "Tiered Pricing and Cost Functions: Are Equity, Cost Recovery and Economic Efficiency Compatible Goals?," Cornhusker Economics 306675, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    6. Herter, Karen & McAuliffe, Patrick & Rosenfeld, Arthur, 2007. "An exploratory analysis of California residential customer response to critical peak pricing of electricity," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 25-34.
    7. Banfi, Silvia & Farsi, Mehdi & Filippini, Massimo & Jakob, Martin, 2008. "Willingness to pay for energy-saving measures in residential buildings," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 503-516, March.
    8. Abrahamse, Wokje & Steg, Linda, 2009. "How do socio-demographic and psychological factors relate to households' direct and indirect energy use and savings?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 711-720, October.
    9. Sardianou, Eleni, 2007. "Estimating energy conservation patterns of Greek households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3778-3791, July.
    10. Ek, Kristina & Söderholm, Patrik, 2010. "The devil is in the details: Household electricity saving behavior and the role of information," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 1578-1587, March.
    11. Reneses, Javier & Gómez, Tomás & Rivier, Juan & Angarita, Jorge L., 2011. "Electricity tariff design for transition economies: Application to the Libyan power system," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 33-43, January.
    12. Murata, Akinobu & Kondou, Yasuhiko & Hailin, Mu & Weisheng, Zhou, 2008. "Electricity demand in the Chinese urban household-sector," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(12), pages 1113-1125, December.
    13. Dianshu, Feng & Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Minh Vu, Khuong, 2010. "The barriers to energy efficiency in China: Assessing household electricity savings and consumer behavior in Liaoning Province," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 1202-1209, February.
    14. Zografakis, Nikolaos & Sifaki, Elli & Pagalou, Maria & Nikitaki, Georgia & Psarakis, Vasilios & Tsagarakis, Konstantinos P., 2010. "Assessment of public acceptance and willingness to pay for renewable energy sources in Crete," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 1088-1095, April.
    15. Tsagarakis, Konstantinos P. & Bounialetou, Fanouria & Gillas, Konstantinos & Profylienou, Maroulitsa & Pollaki, Antrianna & Zografakis, Nikolaos, 2011. "Tourists' attitudes for selecting accommodation with investments in renewable energy and energy saving systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 1335-1342, February.
    16. Thøgersen, John & Grønhøj, Alice, 2010. "Electricity saving in households--A social cognitive approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 7732-7743, December.
    17. Cameron, Trudy Ann, 1985. "A Nested Logit Model of Energy Conservation Activity by Owners of Existing Single Family Dwellings," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(2), pages 205-211, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Zhaohua & Zhang, Bin & Yin, Jianhua & Zhang, Yixiang, 2011. "Determinants and policy implications for household electricity-saving behaviour: Evidence from Beijing, China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3550-3557, June.
    2. Yu, Yihua & Guo, Jin, 2016. "Identifying electricity-saving potential in rural China: Empirical evidence from a household survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 1-9.
    3. Kabeya Clement Mulamba, 2020. "Relationship between education and households? electricity-saving behaviour in South Africa: A multilevel logistic analysis," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2020(2), pages 51-74.
    4. Yue, Ting & Long, Ruyin & Chen, Hong, 2013. "Factors influencing energy-saving behavior of urban households in Jiangsu Province," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 665-675.
    5. Quaglione, Davide & Cassetta, Ernesto & Crociata, Alessandro & Sarra, Alessandro, 2017. "Exploring additional determinants of energy-saving behaviour: The influence of individuals' participation in cultural activities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 503-511.
    6. Düştegör, Dilek & Sultana, Nahid & Felemban, Noor & Al Qahtani, Deemah, 2018. "A smarter electricity grid for the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia: Perceptions and policy implications," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 26-39.
    7. Wang, Bo & Wang, Xiaomeng & Guo, Dongxue & Zhang, Bin & Wang, Zhaohua, 2018. "Analysis of factors influencing residents’ habitual energy-saving behaviour based on NAM and TPB models: Egoism or altruism?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 68-77.
    8. Ohler, Adrienne M. & Billger, Sherrilyn M., 2014. "Does environmental concern change the tragedy of the commons? Factors affecting energy saving behaviors and electricity usage," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-12.
    9. Fang, Xingming & Wang, Lu & Sun, Chuanwang & Zheng, Xuemei & Wei, Jing, 2021. "Gap between words and actions: Empirical study on consistency of residents supporting renewable energy development in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(PA).
    10. Wang, Zhaohua & Sun, Yefei & Wang, Bo, 2020. "Policy cognition is more effective than step tariff in promoting electricity saving behaviour of residents," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    11. Saqib Ali & Habib Ullah & Minhas Akbar & Waheed Akhtar & Hasan Zahid, 2019. "Determinants of Consumer Intentions to Purchase Energy-Saving Household Products in Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-20, March.
    12. Ali, Ghaffar & Yan, Ningyu & Hussain, Jafar & Xu, Lilai & Huang, Yunfeng & Xu, Su & Cui, Shenghui, 2019. "Quantitative assessment of energy conservation and renewable energy awareness among variant urban communities of Xiamen, China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 230-238.
    13. Karim Khan & Anwar Shah & Jaffar Khan, 2016. "Electricity Consumption Patterns: Comparative Evidence from Pakistan’s Public and Private Sectors," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 21(1), pages 99-122, Jan-June.
    14. Tampakis, Stilianos & Arabatzis, Garyfallos & Tsantopoulos, Georgios & Rerras, Ioannis, 2017. "Citizens’ views on electricity use, savings and production from renewable energy sources: A case study from a Greek island," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 39-49.
    15. Zhang, Yixiang & Wang, Zhaohua & Zhou, Guanghui, 2013. "Antecedents of employee electricity saving behavior in organizations: An empirical study based on norm activation model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1120-1127.
    16. Wang, Zhaohua & Wang, Xiaomeng & Guo, Dongxue, 2017. "Policy implications of the purchasing intentions towards energy-efficient appliances among China’s urban residents: Do subsidies work?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 430-439.
    17. Véronique Vasseur & Anne-Francoise Marique & Vladimir Udalov, 2019. "A Conceptual Framework to Understand Households’ Energy Consumption," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-22, November.
    18. Botetzagias, Iosif & Malesios, Chrisovaladis & Poulou, Dimitra, 2014. "Electricity curtailment behaviors in Greek households: Different behaviors, different predictors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 415-424.
    19. Fiorillo, Damiano & Sapio, Alessandro, 2019. "Energy saving in Italy in the late 1990s: Which role for non-monetary motivations?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-1.
    20. Morgane Innocent & Agnès François-Lecompte & Nolwenn Roudaut, 2020. "Comparison of human versus technological support to reduce domestic electricity consumption in France," Post-Print hal-02450849, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tiered electricity price; Public acceptance; Determinants; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • C83 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:91:y:2012:i:1:p:235-244. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.