IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/envpol/v19y2017i3d10.1007_s10018-016-0156-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An economic analysis of the “Home Appliance Eco-Point System” in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Ken-Ichi Akao

    (Waseda University)

Abstract

The Home Appliance Eco-Point System was a subsidy program implemented by the Japanese government from May 2009 to March 2011. The system has two features. First, the subsidy was provided in the form of eco-points that were only exchangeable for environmentally friendly goods. Second, it was a replacement subsidy program for durable goods with uncertain termination dates. We investigate the policy implications of these features. We show that if the eco-points are exchangeable for any goods (i.e., if a simple rebate program rather than an eco-point system is implemented), the same outcome can be achieved at a lower subsidy rate and thus using fewer financial resources. Regarding the eco-point system as a replacement subsidy, we show that the uncertain termination has the same effect as an increase in the subsidy: both accelerate the replacement. Uncertainty is a substitute for a subsidy, thus saving the financial resources of the government. However, there are two welfare concerns: (a) acceleration may not be desirable in terms of the environment, and (b) it costs households their expected utility.

Suggested Citation

  • Ken-Ichi Akao, 2017. "An economic analysis of the “Home Appliance Eco-Point System” in Japan," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 19(3), pages 483-501, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envpol:v:19:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s10018-016-0156-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10018-016-0156-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10018-016-0156-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10018-016-0156-3?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. Viviana P. Fernandez, 2000. "Decisions To Replace Consumer Durables Goods: An Econometric Application Of Wiener And Renewal Processes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(3), pages 452-461, August.
    2. Prince, Jeffrey T., 2009. "How do households choose quality and time to replacement for a rapidly improving durable good?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 302-311, March.
    3. Baumol,William J. & Oates,Wallace E., 1988. "The Theory of Environmental Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521311120.
    4. Baumol,William J. & Oates,Wallace E., 1988. "The Theory of Environmental Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521322249.
    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. Frans P. Vries & Nick Hanley, 2016. "Incentive-Based Policy Design for Pollution Control and Biodiversity Conservation: A Review," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 63(4), pages 687-702, April.
    2. Yu-Bong Lai, 2004. "Trade liberalization, consumption externalities and the environment," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 17(5), pages 1-9.
    3. Giancarlo Giudici & Massimiliano Guerini & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2019. "The creation of cleantech startups at the local level: the role of knowledge availability and environmental awareness," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 815-830, April.
    4. Grüll, Georg & Taschini, Luca, 2011. "Cap-and-trade properties under different hybrid scheme designs," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 107-118, January.
    5. Na Li Dawson & Kathleen Segerson, 2008. "Voluntary Agreements with Industries: Participation Incentives with Industry-Wide Targets," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 84(1), pages 97-114.
    6. Sam Fankhauser & Cameron Hepburn, 2009. "Carbon markets in space and time," GRI Working Papers 3, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    7. Ehigiamusoe, Kizito Uyi & Lean, Hooi Hooi & Smyth, Russell, 2020. "The moderating role of energy consumption in the carbon emissions-income nexus in middle-income countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    8. Thomas Akpan Harry & Ekemini John Peter & Nsidibe Akpan Udoduk, 2022. "Environmental Impact Assessment Of Oil Producing Communities In Part Of The Niger Delta. A Case Study Of Ibeno, Ikot Abasi, Onna And Esit-Eket Local Government Area In Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria," Environmental Contaminants Reviews (ECR), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 5(2), pages 49-56, April.
    9. Stavins, Robert, 2001. "Lessons From the American Experiment With Market-Based Environmental Policies," RFF Working Paper Series dp-01-53, Resources for the Future.
    10. Wu, JunJie & Zilberman, David & Babcock, Bruce A., 2001. "Environmental and Distributional Impacts of Conservation Targeting Strategies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 333-350, May.
    11. Boisvert, Richard N. & Peterson, Jeffrey M., 1996. "Conditions for Requiring Separate Green Payments Policies Under Asymmetric Information," Working Papers 127934, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    12. Janusch, Nicholas, 2016. "A note on the distortionary effects of revenue-neutral tolls in a bottleneck congestion game," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 95-103.
    13. Berta, Nathalie, 2015. "Prix versus quantités : les contorsions du marché du carbone européen," Revue de la Régulation - Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, Association Recherche et Régulation, vol. 18.
    14. Managi, Shunsuke & Opaluch, James J. & Jin, Di & Grigalunas, Thomas A., 2006. "Stochastic frontier analysis of total factor productivity in the offshore oil and gas industry," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 204-215, November.
    15. Jeffrey P. Cohen & Cletus C. Coughlin, 2003. "Congestion at airports: the economics of airport expansions," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 85(May), pages 9-26.
    16. Palmer, Karen & Paul, Anthony, 2015. "A Primer on Comprehensive Policy Options for States to Comply with the Clean Power Plan," RFF Working Paper Series dp-15-15, Resources for the Future.
    17. Chung, Sung H. & Weaver, Robert D. & Friesz, Terry L., 2013. "Strategic response to pollution taxes in supply chain networks: Dynamic, spatial, and organizational dimensions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 231(2), pages 314-327.
    18. Petrakis, Emmanuel & Xepapadeas, Anastasios, 2003. "Location decisions of a polluting firm and the time consistency of environmental policy," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 197-214, May.
    19. Sturm, Daniel & Ulph, Alistair, 2002. "Environment, trade, political economy and imperfect information: a survey," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 0204, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
    20. Panos Hatzipanayotou & Sajal Lahiri & Michael S. Michael, 2002. "Can cross–border pollution reduce pollution?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(4), pages 805-818, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Eco-point; Environmentally friendly goods; Voucher; Replacement subsidy; Uncertain termination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies

    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:spr:envpol:v:19:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s10018-016-0156-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.