IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/wpaper/hal-04071161.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Distinguishing economic and moral compensation in the rebound effect: A theoretical and experimental approach

Author

Listed:
  • Simon Mathex

    (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier)

  • Lisette Ibanez

    (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier)

  • Raphaële Préget

    (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier)

Abstract

The rebound effect occurs when improvements in energy efficiency result in lower energy savings than expected due to changes in behavior. These behavioral changes can be caused by an economic compensation and a moral compensation. For moral compensation, we consider moral licensing effect, but also the case of moral cleansing effect. The objective of our paper is to distinguish the economic and moral compensation in the rebound effect. To do so, we propose a theoretical model and an online experiment with 1622 subjects. Our experimental results show that an improvement in energy efficiency leads to a rebound effect through economic compensation. Concerning moral compensation, we do not observe any moral licensing but rather consistent behavior among participants with strong environmental attitudes. Finally, we find evidence for moral cleansing, which reduces the magnitude of the rebound effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Mathex & Lisette Ibanez & Raphaële Préget, 2023. "Distinguishing economic and moral compensation in the rebound effect: A theoretical and experimental approach," Working Papers hal-04071161, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04071161
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04071161v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04071161v1/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eberling, Elisabeth & Dütschke, Elisabeth & Eckartz, Katharina Marie & Schuler, Johannes, 2019. "Moral licensing and rebound effects in the residential lighting area: An experimental study," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S09/2019, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    2. Sophie Clot & Gilles Grolleau & Lisette Ibanez, 2018. "What did you do before? Moral (in)consistency in pro-environmental choice," CEE-M Working Papers hal-01954925, CEE-M, Universtiy of Montpellier, CNRS, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro.
    3. Madlener, Reinhard & Hauertmann, Maximilian, 2011. "Rebound Effects in German Residential Heating: Do Ownership and Income Matter?," FCN Working Papers 2/2011, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN).
    4. Stikvoort, Britt & Lindahl, Therese & Daw, Tim M., 2016. "Thou shalt not sell nature: How taboo trade-offs can make us act pro-environmentally, to clear our conscience," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 252-259.
    5. Allred, Sarah & Duffy, Sean & Smith, John, 2016. "Cognitive load and strategic sophistication," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 162-178.
    6. Tiefenbeck, Verena & Staake, Thorsten & Roth, Kurt & Sachs, Olga, 2013. "For better or for worse? Empirical evidence of moral licensing in a behavioral energy conservation campaign," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 160-171.
    7. Schleich, Joachim & Mills, Bradford & Dütschke, Elisabeth, 2014. "A brighter future? Quantifying the rebound effect in energy efficient lighting," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 35-42.
    8. Jacobsen, Grant D. & Kotchen, Matthew J. & Vandenbergh, Michael P., 2012. "The behavioral response to voluntary provision of an environmental public good: Evidence from residential electricity demand," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(5), pages 946-960.
    9. Matthew J. Kotchen, 2009. "Voluntary Provision of Public Goods for Bads: A Theory of Environmental Offsets," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(537), pages 883-899, April.
    10. repec:hal:gemwpa:hal-00991732 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Sorrell, Steve & Dimitropoulos, John, 2008. "The rebound effect: Microeconomic definitions, limitations and extensions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 636-649, April.
    12. Cragg, John G, 1971. "Some Statistical Models for Limited Dependent Variables with Application to the Demand for Durable Goods," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 39(5), pages 829-844, September.
    13. Kenneth Gillingham & David Rapson & Gernot Wagner, 2016. "The Rebound Effect and Energy Efficiency Policy," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(1), pages 68-88.
    14. Benno Torgler & María A.García-Valiñas & Alison Macintyre, 2007. "Differences in Preferences Towards the Environment: The Impact of a Gender, Age and Parental Effect," CREMA Working Paper Series 2008-01, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    15. Hediger, Cécile & Farsi, Mehdi & Weber, Sylvain, 2018. "Turn It Up and Open the Window: On the Rebound Effects in Residential Heating," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 21-39.
    16. Jeffrey A. Dubin & Allen K. Miedema & Ram V. Chandran, 1986. "Price Effects of Energy-Efficient Technologies: A Study of Residential Demand for Heating and Cooling," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 17(3), pages 310-325, Autumn.
    17. Matthew Harding & David Rapson, 2019. "Does Absolution Promote Sin? A Conservationist’s Dilemma," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(3), pages 923-955, July.
    18. Severin Borenstein, 2014. "A Microeconomic Framework for Evaluating Energy Efficiency Rebound and Some Implications," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    19. Uri Gneezy & Alex Imas & Kristóf Madarász, 2014. "Conscience Accounting: Emotion Dynamics and Social Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(11), pages 2645-2658, November.
    20. Andreoni, James, 1989. "Giving with Impure Altruism: Applications to Charity and Ricardian Equivalence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(6), pages 1447-1458, December.
    21. Andreoni, James, 1990. "Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow Giving?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(401), pages 464-477, June.
    22. Dütschke, Elisabeth & Frondel, Manuel & Schleich, Joachim & Vance, Colin, 2018. "Moral licensing: Another source of rebound?," Ruhr Economic Papers 747, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    23. Christoph Engel, 2011. "Dictator games: a meta study," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 14(4), pages 583-610, November.
    24. Sophie Clot & Gilles Grolleau & Lisette Ibanez, 2016. "Do good deeds make bad people?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 491-513, December.
    25. A. Greening, Lorna & Greene, David L. & Difiglio, Carmen, 2000. "Energy efficiency and consumption -- the rebound effect -- a survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 389-401, June.
    26. Frondel, Manuel & Ritter, Nolan & Vance, Colin, 2012. "Heterogeneity in the rebound effect: Further evidence for Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 461-467.
    27. Uri Gneezy & Alex Imas & Kristóf Madarász, 2012. "Conscience Accounting: Emotional Dynamics and Social Behavior," STICERD - Theoretical Economics Paper Series 563, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
    28. Haas, Reinhard & Biermayr, Peter, 2000. "The rebound effect for space heating Empirical evidence from Austria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 403-410, June.
    29. Eckel, Catherine C. & Grossman, Philip J., 1996. "Altruism in Anonymous Dictator Games," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 181-191, October.
    30. Sophie Clot & Gilles Grolleau & Lisette Ibanez, 2013. "Self-Licensing and Financial Rewards: Is Morality For Sale?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(3), pages 2298-2306.
    31. Jerry A. Hausman, 1979. "Individual Discount Rates and the Purchase and Utilization of Energy-Using Durables," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 33-54, Spring.
    32. Brañas-Garza, Pablo & Bucheli, Marisa & Paz Espinosa, María & García-Muñoz, Teresa, 2013. "Moral Cleansing And Moral Licenses: Experimental Evidence," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29(2), pages 199-212, July.
    33. Dorner, Zack, 2019. "A behavioral rebound effect," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    34. Matthew J. Kotchen, 2009. "Voluntary Provision of Public Goods for Bads: A Theory of Environmental Offsets," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(537), pages 883-899, April.
    35. Dimitropoulos, Alexandros & Oueslati, Walid & Sintek, Christina, 2018. "The rebound effect in road transport: A meta-analysis of empirical studies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 163-179.
    36. Deck, Cary & Jahedi, Salar, 2015. "The effect of cognitive load on economic decision making: A survey and new experiments," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 97-119.
    37. Nicholas Bardsley, 2008. "Dictator game giving: altruism or artefact?," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 11(2), pages 122-133, June.
    38. Santarius, Tilman & Soland, Martin, 2018. "How Technological Efficiency Improvements Change Consumer Preferences: Towards a Psychological Theory of Rebound Effects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 414-424.
    39. Lisette Ibanez & Sébastien Roussel, 2021. "The effects of induced emotions on environmental preferences and behavior: An experimental study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-22, September.
    40. Sorrell, Steve & Dimitropoulos, John & Sommerville, Matt, 2009. "Empirical estimates of the direct rebound effect: A review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1356-1371, April.
    41. Benno Torgler & María A.García-Valiñas & Alison Macintyre, 2007. "Differences in Preferences Towards the Environment: The Impact of a Gender, Age and Parental Effect," CREMA Working Paper Series 2008-01, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    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. Galvin, Ray & Dütschke, Elisabeth & Weiß, Julika, 2021. "A conceptual framework for understanding rebound effects with renewable electricity: A new challenge for decarbonizing the electricity sector," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 423-432.
    2. Benjamin Volland, 2016. "Efficiency in Domestic Space Heating: An Estimation of the Direct Rebound Effect for Domestic Heating in the U.S," IRENE Working Papers 16-01, IRENE Institute of Economic Research.
    3. Barkemeyer, Ralf & Young, C. William & Chintakayala, Phani Kumar & Owen, Anne, 2023. "Eco-labels, conspicuous conservation and moral licensing: An indirect behavioural rebound effect," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    4. Dütschke, Elisabeth & Frondel, Manuel & Schleich, Joachim & Vance, Colin, 2018. "Moral licensing: Another source of rebound?," Ruhr Economic Papers 747, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    5. Dorner, Zack, 2019. "A behavioral rebound effect," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    6. Lisette Ibanez & Sébastien Roussel, 2022. "The impact of nature video exposure on pro-environmental behavior: An experimental investigation," Post-Print hal-03847453, HAL.
    7. Hediger, Cécile & Farsi, Mehdi & Weber, Sylvain, 2018. "Turn It Up and Open the Window: On the Rebound Effects in Residential Heating," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 21-39.
    8. Stehr, Frauke & Werner, Peter, 2021. "Making Up for Harming Others — An Experiment on Voluntary Compensation Behavior," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242396, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Alt, Marius & Gallier, Carlo, 2021. "Incentives and intertemporal behavioral spillovers: A two-period experiment on charitable giving," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-010, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Fanghella, Valeria & Thøgersen, John, 2022. "Experimental evidence of moral cleansing in the interpersonal and environmental domains," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    11. Alt, Marius & Gallier, Carlo, 2022. "Incentives and intertemporal behavioral spillovers: A two-period experiment on charitable giving," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 959-972.
    12. David Font Vivanco & Jaume Freire‐González & Ray Galvin & Tilman Santarius & Hans Jakob Walnum & Tamar Makov & Serenella Sala, 2022. "Rebound effect and sustainability science: A review," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1543-1563, August.
    13. Jan Schmitz, 2019. "Temporal dynamics of pro-social behavior: an experimental analysis," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 22(1), pages 1-23, March.
    14. Martín Bordon Lesme & Jaume Freire-González & Emilio Padilla Rosa, 2020. "The Direct Rebound Effect of Electricity Energy Services in Spanish Households: Evidence from Error Correction Model and System GMM estimates," Working Papers wpdea2002, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    15. Sylvain Weber & Mehdi Farsi, 2014. "Travel distance, fuel efficiency, and vehicle weight: An estimation of the rebound effect using individual data in Switzerland," IRENE Working Papers 14-03, IRENE Institute of Economic Research.
    16. Dimitropoulos, Alexandros & Oueslati, Walid & Sintek, Christina, 2018. "The rebound effect in road transport: A meta-analysis of empirical studies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 163-179.
    17. Inoue, Nozomu & Matsumoto, Shigeru, 2019. "An examination of losses in energy savings after the Japanese Top Runner Program?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 312-319.
    18. Dolan, Paul & Galizzi, Matteo M., 2015. "Like ripples on a pond: Behavioral spillovers and their implications for research and policy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-16.
    19. Cécile Hediger, 2022. "Rebound effects in residential heating: How much does an extra degree matter?," IRENE Working Papers 22-05, IRENE Institute of Economic Research.
    20. Rabaa, Simon & Wilken, Robert & Geisendorf, Sylvie, 2024. "Does recalling energy efficiency measures reduce subsequent climate-friendly behavior? An experimental study of moral licensing rebound effects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rebound effect; economic compensation; moral compensation; moral licensing effect; moral cleansing effect; online experiment;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hal:wpaper:hal-04071161. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.