IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v82y2015icp105-117.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Investment inefficiency and the adoption of eco-innovations: The case of household energy efficiency technologies

Author

Listed:
  • Diaz-Rainey, Ivan
  • Ashton, John K.

Abstract

This paper examines the factors determining household adoption of energy efficiency eco-innovations. We do so by testing hypotheses grounded in diffusion and finance theory and the literature on the barriers to energy efficiency. Using two large surveys of UK households, we explore the adoption of nine technologies. Our results indicate ‘investment inefficiency’ amongst household adopters occurs for two reasons. First, contrary to notions of rational choice, we find a negative relationship between the investment return of technologies and their level of diffusion. Second, we show adopters of these technologies display characteristics broadly consistent with diffusion theory, contradicting the prediction of finance theory that investment return, not individual characteristics, should drive adoption. We also find that policy has played a role in inducing the diffusion of these technologies and that tenure and spill-over effects are important in adoption. Finally, adoption is motivated more by a desire to save money than by environmental concern. We conclude by giving examples of how our research can lead to better policy timing and targeting.

Suggested Citation

  • Diaz-Rainey, Ivan & Ashton, John K., 2015. "Investment inefficiency and the adoption of eco-innovations: The case of household energy efficiency technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 105-117.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:82:y:2015:i:c:p:105-117
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2015.03.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421515001093
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2015.03.003?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nair, Gireesh & Gustavsson, Leif & Mahapatra, Krushna, 2010. "Factors influencing energy efficiency investments in existing Swedish residential buildings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 2956-2963, June.
    2. Brown, Marilyn A., 2001. "Market failures and barriers as a basis for clean energy policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(14), pages 1197-1207, November.
    3. McMichael, Megan & Shipworth, David, 2013. "The value of social networks in the diffusion of energy-efficiency innovations in UK households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 159-168.
    4. Stephen J. Decanio & William E. Watkins, 1998. "Investment In Energy Efficiency: Do The Characteristics Of Firms Matter?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(1), pages 95-107, February.
    5. Murray, Anthony G. & Mills, Bradford F., 2011. "Read the label! Energy Star appliance label awareness and uptake among U.S. consumers," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1103-1110.
    6. Frank M. Bass, 1969. "A New Product Growth for Model Consumer Durables," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(5), pages 215-227, January.
    7. Tovar, Miguel A., 2012. "The structure of energy efficiency investment in the UK households and its average monetary and environmental savings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 723-735.
    8. Lucas W. Davis, 2011. "Evaluating the Slow Adoption of Energy Efficient Investments: Are Renters Less Likely to Have Energy Efficient Appliances?," NBER Chapters, in: The Design and Implementation of US Climate Policy, pages 301-316, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Hunt Allcott & Michael Greenstone, 2012. "Is There an Energy Efficiency Gap?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(1), pages 3-28, Winter.
    10. Mills, Bradford & Schleich, Joachim, 2012. "Residential energy-efficient technology adoption, energy conservation, knowledge, and attitudes: An analysis of European countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 616-628.
    11. Sanstad, Alan H & Blumstein, Carl & Stoft, Steven E, 1995. "How high are option values in energy-efficiency investments?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(9), pages 739-743, September.
    12. Schleich, Joachim, 2009. "Barriers to energy efficiency: A comparison across the German commercial and services sector," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 2150-2159, May.
    13. Zhao, Tingting & Bell, Lindsey & Horner, Mark W. & Sulik, John & Zhang, Jinfeng, 2012. "Consumer responses towards home energy financial incentives: A survey-based study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 291-297.
    14. Diaz-Rainey, Ivan & Tzavara, Dionisia, 2012. "Financing the decarbonized energy system through green electricity tariffs: A diffusion model of an induced consumer environmental market," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 79(9), pages 1693-1704.
    15. Sanstad, Alan H. & Howarth, Richard B., 1994. "`Normal' markets, market imperfections and energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(10), pages 811-818, October.
    16. Sally Caird & Robin Roy, 2008. "User-Centred Improvements To Energy Efficiency Products And Renewable Energy Systems: Research On Household Adoption And Use," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(03), pages 327-355.
    17. Murray, Anthony G. & Mills, Bradford F., 2011. "Read the Label! Energy Star Appliance Awareness and Uptake Among U.S. Consumers," 2011 Annual Meeting, July 24-26, 2011, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 103328, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. Adam Jaffe & Richard Newell & Robert Stavins, 2002. "Environmental Policy and Technological Change," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 22(1), pages 41-70, June.
    19. Rixen, Martin & Weigand, Jürgen, 2014. "Agent-based simulation of policy induced diffusion of smart meters," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 153-167.
    20. Bale, Catherine S.E. & McCullen, Nicholas J. & Foxon, Timothy J. & Rucklidge, Alastair M. & Gale, William F., 2013. "Harnessing social networks for promoting adoption of energy technologies in the domestic sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 833-844.
    21. Cordes, Christian & Schwesinger, Georg, 2014. "Technological diffusion and preference learning in the world of Homo sustinens: The challenges for politics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 191-200.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Miao, Chenglin & Fang, Debin & Sun, Liyan & Luo, Qiaoling, 2017. "Natural resources utilization efficiency under the influence of green technological innovation," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 153-161.
    2. Sylwia Słupik & Joanna Kos-Łabędowicz & Joanna Trzęsiok, 2021. "How to Encourage Energy Savings Behaviours? The Most Effective Incentives from the Perspective of European Consumers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-25, November.
    3. Tan, Qingmei & Yasmeen, Humaira & Ali, Sharafat & Ismail, Hina & Zameer, Hashim, 2023. "Fintech development, renewable energy consumption, government effectiveness and management of natural resources along the belt and road countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Djanibekov, Utkur & Gaur, Varun, 2018. "Nexus of energy use, agricultural production, employment and incomes among rural households in Uttar Pradesh, India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 439-453.
    5. Kowalska-Pyzalska, Anna, 2018. "What makes consumers adopt to innovative energy services in the energy market? A review of incentives and barriers," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3570-3581.
    6. Russell Tatenda Munodawafa & Satirenjit Kaur Johl, 2019. "Big Data Analytics Capabilities and Eco-Innovation: A Study of Energy Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-21, August.
    7. Cem Keskin & M. Pınar Mengüç, 2018. "On Occupant Behavior and Innovation Studies Towards High Performance Buildings: A Transdisciplinary Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-33, October.
    8. Zhao, Xing & Guo, Yifan & Feng, Tianchu, 2023. "Towards green recovery: Natural resources utilization efficiency under the impact of environmental information disclosure," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Bansal, Sanchita & Singh, Shifali & Nangia, Priya, 2022. "Assessing the role of natural resource utilization in attaining select sustainable development goals in the era of digitalization," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    10. Patricia Jissette Rodríguez Sánchez & Mariana Hernández González & Juliana Carmenza Bello Arias, 2018. "Eco-Innovation And Sustainable Production In Developing Countries. Cases Colombia And Mexico," Economy & Business Journal, International Scientific Publications, Bulgaria, vol. 12(1), pages 228-238.
    11. Anna Kowalska-Pyzalska, 2016. "What makes consumers adopt to innovative energy services in the energy market?," HSC Research Reports HSC/16/09, Hugo Steinhaus Center, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.
    12. Wang, Ge & Zhang, Qi & Li, Yan & Li, Hailong, 2018. "Policy simulation for promoting residential PV considering anecdotal information exchanges based on social network modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C), pages 1-10.
    13. Jiang, Rui & Wu, Peng & Song, Yongze & Wu, Chengke & Wang, Peng & Zhong, Yun, 2022. "Factors influencing the adoption of renewable energy in the U.S. residential sector: An optimal parameters-based geographical detector approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P1), pages 450-461.
    14. Li, Aihong & Li, Shuyan & Chen, Shuai & Sun, Xiaoqin, 2024. "The role of Fintech, natural resources, and renewable energy consumption in Shaping environmental sustainability in China: A NARDL perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    15. Hartwig, Johannes & Kockat, Judit & Schade, Wolfgang & Braungardt, Sibylle, 2017. "The macroeconomic effects of ambitious energy efficiency policy in Germany – Combining bottom-up energy modelling with a non-equilibrium macroeconomic model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 510-520.
    16. Sylwia Słupik & Joanna Kos-Łabędowicz & Joanna Trzęsiok, 2021. "Are You a Typical Energy Consumer? Socioeconomic Characteristics of Behavioural Segmentation Representatives of 8 European Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-28, September.
    17. Sylwia Słupik & Joanna Kos-Łabędowicz & Joanna Trzęsiok, 2021. "Energy-Related Behaviour of Consumers from the Silesia Province (Poland)—Towards a Low-Carbon Economy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-23, April.
    18. Huang, Lihua, 2024. "Fintech inclusion in natural resource utilization, trade openness, resource productivity, recycling and minimizing waste generation: Does technology really drive economies toward green growth?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    19. Tanaka, Takuro & Mizutani, Fumitoshi, 2023. "Determinants of the adoption of energy efficient water heaters in the residential sector: Evidence from a survey in Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    20. Rehman, Mubeen Abdur, 2024. "How has FinTech become a solution for minerals management?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    21. Marin, Giovanni & Palma, Alessandro, 2017. "Technology invention and adoption in residential energy consumption," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 85-98.
    22. Wu, Ge & Baležentis, Tomas & Sun, Chuanwang & Xu, Shuhua, 2019. "Source control or end-of-pipe control: Mitigating air pollution at the regional level from the perspective of the Total Factor Productivity change decomposition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1227-1239.
    23. Anna Kowalska-Pyzalska, 2018. "An Empirical Analysis of Green Electricity Adoption Among Residential Consumers in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.

    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. Henningsen, Geraldine & Wiese, Catharina, 2019. "Do Household Characteristics Really Matter? A Meta-Analysis on the Determinants of Households’ Energy-Efficiency Investments," MPRA Paper 101701, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Runst, Petrik & Bettendorf, Axel, 2017. "Energieeffizienz in Klein- und Kleinstunternehmen des Handwerks," Göttinger Beiträge zur Handwerksforschung 16, Volkswirtschaftliches Institut für Mittelstand und Handwerk an der Universität Göttingen (ifh).
    3. Konstantin A Kholodilin & Andreas Mense & Claus Michelsen, 2017. "The market value of energy efficiency in buildings and the mode of tenure," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(14), pages 3218-3238, November.
    4. Fleiter, Tobias & Schleich, Joachim & Ravivanpong, Ployplearn, 2012. "Adoption of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs—An empirical analysis based on energy audit data from Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 863-875.
    5. Tobias Fleitera & Joachim Schleich & Ployplearn Ravivanpong, 2012. "Adoption of energy-efficiency measures in SMEs - An empirical analysis based on energy audit data," Post-Print hal-00805748, HAL.
    6. Häckel, Björn & Pfosser, Stefan & Tränkler, Timm, 2017. "Explaining the energy efficiency gap - Expected Utility Theory versus Cumulative Prospect Theory," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 414-426.
    7. Spandagos, Constantine & Baark, Erik & Ng, Tze Ling & Yarime, Masaru, 2021. "Social influence and economic intervention policies to save energy at home: Critical questions for the new decade and evidence from air-condition use," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    8. Ángeles Longarela-Ares & Anxo Calvo-Silvosa & José-Benito Pérez-López, 2020. "The Influence of Economic Barriers and Drivers on Energy Efficiency Investments in Maritime Shipping, from the Perspective of the Principal-Agent Problem," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-42, September.
    9. Heutel, Garth, 2019. "Prospect theory and energy efficiency," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 236-254.
    10. Charlier, Dorothée, 2015. "Energy efficiency investments in the context of split incentives among French households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 465-479.
    11. Djanibekov, Utkur & Gaur, Varun, 2018. "Nexus of energy use, agricultural production, employment and incomes among rural households in Uttar Pradesh, India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 439-453.
    12. Matheus Koengkan & Nuno Silva & José Alberto Fuinhas, 2023. "Assessing Energy Performance Certificates for Buildings: A Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) of Portuguese Municipalities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-30, April.
    13. Filippini, Massimo & Kumar, Nilkanth & Srinivasan, Suchita, 2020. "Energy-related financial literacy and bounded rationality in appliance replacement attitudes: evidence from Nepal," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(4), pages 399-422, August.
    14. Pettifor, H. & Wilson, C. & Chryssochoidis, G., 2015. "The appeal of the green deal: Empirical evidence for the influence of energy efficiency policy on renovating homeowners," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 161-176.
    15. Kajsa Ellegård & Jenny Palm, 2015. "Who Is Behaving? Consequences for Energy Policy of Concept Confusion," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-20, July.
    16. Li, Jia & Just, Richard E., 2018. "Modeling household energy consumption and adoption of energy efficient technology," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 404-415.
    17. Trotta, Gianluca, 2018. "Factors affecting energy-saving behaviours and energy efficiency investments in British households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 529-539.
    18. Qiu, Yueming & Colson, Gregory & Wetzstein, Michael E., 2017. "Risk preference and adverse selection for participation in time-of-use electricity pricing programs," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 126-142.
    19. Mills, Bradford & Schleich, Joachim, 2012. "Residential energy-efficient technology adoption, energy conservation, knowledge, and attitudes: An analysis of European countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 616-628.
    20. Dong, Xiao & Klaiber, H. Allen, 2019. "Consumer stockpiling in response to the U.S. EISA “light bulb ban”," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 566-576.

    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:enepol:v:82:y:2015:i:c:p:105-117. 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/locate/enpol .

    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.