Energy efficiency and heating technology investments: Manipulating financial information in a discrete choice experiment

We elicit homeowners’ willingness to pay (WTP) for energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies in the context of heating appliance replacement. We employ a within-between subject design that involves manipulating information in a two-stage discrete choice experiment (DCE) and use WTP space estimation to identify the role of financial information in reducing fossil fuel use. We find that homeowners’ average valuation of energy efficiency exceeds associated heating cost savings, suggesting that they also consider non-monetary benefits when evaluating this type of investment, whereas information about private and pro-social benefits of investments only has a limited impact on WTP. Evidence also suggests that homeowners have a strong preference for the existing technology. Consequently, fossil fuel users’ WTP for switching to low-carbon technologies does not cover respective investment cost differentials, and we derive evidence on how combined subsidies and information can induce these users to opt out of fossil technologies.     

居民储蓄与投资选择:金融资产发展的含义

本文对我国银行储蓄高企的原因进行探讨,认为单纯从消费角度解释与消化居民银行储蓄是不适当的,化解高储蓄的另一有效方式在于发展准储蓄替代产品、拓展金融投资渠道.金融资产的不确定性增强了储蓄的价值,银行储蓄高企与居民直接投资所受的约束密切相关.我国现阶段低风险资产的缺乏,以及风险资产的广度和深度难以配比居民的投资选择,产生强制性银行储蓄,是现在储蓄高企的重要原因.因此,有必要反思传统的投融资方式,大力培育储蓄替代型金融资产,加快金融体制改革.     

Investment and employment from large-scale photovoltaics up to 2050

Investments in renewable energy were at US$211 billion in 2010 and developing economies overtook developed ones for the first time in terms of new financial investments in renewable energy. Photovoltaics for generation of electricity from sunlight has the highest growth rate among the competing forms of renewable energy and has now begun to achieve grid parity in some regions. If these trends of investments continue, solar energy will play a major economic role. We analyze these developments and assess the ensuing amounts of investment and employment for a range of sizes of the sector of solar energy. We find that by 2050 electricity from photovoltaics could cover up to 90% of total global energy demand, with a then global capital investment in our main scenario in photovoltaic manufacturing capacity at 500 billion US$211 billion in 2010 and developing economies overtook developed ones for the first time in terms of new financial investments in renewable energy. Photovoltaics for generation of electricity from sunlight has the highest growth rate among the competing forms of renewable energy and has now begun to achieve grid parity in some regions. If these trends of investments continue, solar energy will play a major economic role. We analyze these developments and assess the ensuing amounts of investment and employment for a range of sizes of the sector of solar energy. We find that by 2050 electricity from photovoltaics could cover up to 90% of total global energy demand, with a then global capital investment in our main scenario in photovoltaic manufacturing capacity at 500 billion US₂₀₁₀ by around 2030 and 1,500 billion by 2050. Employment in photovoltaic manufacturing is predicted to rise to 6 million by 2050. Sensitivity analysis with respect to the core parameters of assumptions is supplied.     

Financial liberalization,private investment and portfolio choice: Financialization of real sectors in emerging markets

Using firm level panel data, we analyze the impacts of rates of return gap between financial and fixed investments under uncertainty on real investment performance in three emerging markets, Argentina, Mexico and Turkey. Employing a portfolio choice model to explain the low fixed investment rates in developing countries during the 1990s, we suggest that rather than investing in irreversible long-term fixed investments, firms may choose to invest in reversible short-term financial investments depending on respective rates of returns and the overall uncertainty in the economy. The empirical results show that increasing rates of return gap and uncertainty have an economically and statistically significant fixed investment reducing effect while the opposite is true with respect to financial investments.     

Can investment advisors promote rational investment? Evidence from micro-data in China

Investment advisors are important participants in financial markets. With the increasing demand for household financial asset management in China, the role of investment advisors is being widely discussed. Taking investors’ degree of diversification as the proxy of the rational investment, this study examines the role of investment advisors in promoting rational investments. It finds that investors with investment advisors are more likely to invest rationally. Further analysis shows that investment advisors play a greater role in promoting rational investment of investors with more investment experience, better financial literacy, more investible assets and male. The conclusions of this study indicate that giving full play to the role of professional investment advisors in household asset allocations and encouraging investors to invest rationally is important for the prevention of financial risks and the promotion of the healthy development of the financial market.     

SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE LIGHT BULB PUZZLE: THE ROLE OF ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS IN THE ADOPTION OF ENERGY EFFICIENT LIGHT BULBS

Despite the potential energy savings and economic benefits associated with compact fluorescent light bulbs, their adoption by the residential sector has been limited to date. In this paper, we present a theoretical model that focuses on the agents' ability to perceive the correct cost of lighting and on the role of environmental attitudes as key determinants of the adoption decision. We use original data from Ireland to test our theoretical predictions. Our results emphasize the importance of education, information and environmental awareness in the adoption decision.     

PowerPlay: Exploring decision making behaviors in energy efficiency markets

Computer models are widely used to analyze decisions about energy efficiency improvements in the residential and commercial sectors. Few models exist that can actually be run interactively by decision makers to play out alternative future scenarios. None are available that interactively capture the dynamics, subtleties and complexities of interdependent decisions by utilities, households and firms in an ever-changing technological and economic environment.This paper presents the features and experiences of PowerPlay, a computer-facilitated game which fills that gap and does more: it is a game to be played by at least a dozen player groups who interact with each other, make deals (or break them), plan for the future and revise decisions. The computer model functions like a game board to trace actions and offer choices. The observed behaviors can be analyzed to advance understanding of investment strategies and consumer choices; to generate experimentally-based data on energy efficiency changes; and to provide the basis for analyses that can substantiate or complement historical, time-series driven specifications of energy models.     

Financialisation and Real Investment in the European Union: Beneficial or Prejudicial Effects?

This article presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between financialisation and real investment for non-financial corporations using panel data composed of 27 European Union countries over 19 years (1995 to 2013). On the one hand, financialisation leads to a rise in financial investments, diverting funds from real investments (‘crowding out’ effect); on the other, pressures from shareholders to intensify financial payments restrict the funds available for new real investments. We estimate an aggregate investment equation with the traditional variables (lagged investment, profitability, debt, cost of capital, corporate savings and output growth) and two further measures of financialisation (financial receipts and financial payments). The findings demonstrate that financialisation has damaged real investment in European Union countries, mainly through the channel of financial payments, either by interest or dividend payments. It is also found that the prejudicial effects of financialisation on investment were more severe in the pre-2007 crisis period. It is concluded that financialisation contributed to a slowdown of real investment by 1 to 8 per cent in the full and pre-crisis period, respectively. During the pre-crisis period, financialisation was the main driver of the slowdown of investment in the European Union.     

Impact of energy infrastructure investments on renewable electricity generation in major Asian developing economies

The prime objective of this research is to empirically investigate the impact of energy infrastructure investments (public-private-partnership) on renewable electricity generation in major Asian developing economies (China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand). In doing so, we use the annual data of variables from 1993 to 2017. To achieve the study objective, the authors employ numerous panel econometric approaches such as the Grouped-Mean and Augmented Mean Group estimators. The overall conclusion of the findings is that investments in energy infrastructure play a significant role in promoting renewable electricity generation in Asian developing economies. The results also reveal that financial development, economic development, and openness further rise renewable electricity generation. Based on the findings, the authors attempted to provide novel implications for the promotion of energy infrastructure investments and sustainable development policies for the Asian developing economies. For instance, the authors suggest that governments and policy makers should realise the significance of greener energy and promote investments via public-private partnerships for renewable energy projects.     

A Real Options Approach to Abatement Investments and Green Goodwill

In this paper we adopt the green goodwill argument as to why firms voluntarily invest in abatement capital. We investigate the effects on the abatement investment decision of changes in uncertainty about future green goodwill, competitor abatement investments, regulations, etc., using a real options framework. Our results indicate that increased uncertainty about consumers' willingness to pay for green products in the future discourage voluntary abatement investments. The model also suggests that voluntary abatement investments are promoted by an increased threat of regulation and competitor abatement investments. Furthermore, the benefit-cost ratio of the abatement investment project, at the point where it is optimal to invest, is independent of what regulatory regime (stringent or lenient) the firm operates in. We also conclude that despite the fact that voluntary abatement investment exists, there may still be room for environmental policy.     

Incentives for Technology Adoption Under Environmental Policy Uncertainty: Implications for Green Payment Programs

Water quality protection policy in the UnitedStates has been based on the provision offinancial incentives to farmers for adoptingimproved nutrient management practices.Increasing reliance on subsidy programs couldresult in expectations for such programs in thefuture. Using an option-value model thatindicates uncertainty can lead to a delay ininvestment, this paper analyzes the extent towhich uncertainty about cost-share subsidypolicies would impact adoption decision.Application of the model to adoption ofsite-specific technologies indicates thatuncertainty about subsidy policies has thepotential to impact the investment decision.When there is currently no cost-share subsidy,an increase in the probability of an expectedpolicy delays adoption. If the policy is ineffect, an increase in the probability of awithdrawal of the program encouragesinvestment. Cost-share subsidy policy is mosteffective when it is immediately offered andguaranteed that it will be removed soon.     

When do Heuristics Matter in Global Capital Markets? The Case of the BRIC Acronym

ABSTRACT

Several recent publications have argued that the use of heuristics by financial investors can distort global capital flows, but scholars have paid little attention to the scope conditions that determine when heuristics become influential (and when they don’t). Building on work in economic sociology and behavioural finance we suggest that the degree to which investment heuristics can bias aggregate capital flows depends on the levels of uncertainty and self-referentiality that structure the environments under which investment decisions are being made. Applying these insights to the two principal global markets for corporate investment, we argue that the institutional structure of markets for short-term portfolio equity investments (PEI) is far more conducive to trigger the mimetic adoption of a specific heuristic than in markets for long-term foreign direct investments (FDI). To test this hypothesis, we leverage the high level of arbitrariness of the selection of Brazil, Russia, India and China into the BRIC acronym and empirically examine the impact of its remarkable rise to prominence among communities of financial investors in the mid-2000s on global capital flows to emerging economies. In line with the theoretical argument, we find robust evidence of a strong BRIC-bias in markets for PEI but not FDI.     

Adopting a Unit Pricing System for Municipal Solid Waste: Policy and Socio-Economic Determinants

Concerns about the environmental and aesthetic damages of municipal solid waste pollution have triggered policy reform at all levels of government. As part of this effort, public officials are integrating market-based policy instruments such as unit pricing into their solid waste plans. Despite the economic advantages of unit pricing, constituency response has been mixed and hence adoption rates have been below expectations. If the associated gains are to be realized, public officials must identify the key factors that influence this decision. To that end, this research empirically estimates the determinants of unit pricing adoption at the community level of analysis. Based on data for all cities and towns in Massachusetts, the results indicate that demographics, socio-economic attributes, fiscal capacity, and policy instruments influence this decision.     

The effect of uncertainty on pollution abatement investments: Measuring hurdle rates for Swedish industry

We estimate hurdle rates for firms’ investments in pollution abatement technology, using ex post data. The method is based on a structural option value model where the future price of polluting fuel is the major source of uncertainty facing the firm. The empirical procedure is illustrated using a panel of firms from the Swedish pulp and paper industry, and the energy and heating sector, and their sulfur dioxide emissions over the period 2000–2003. The results indicate that hurdle rates of investment vary from 2.7 to 3.1 in the pulp and paper industry and from 3.4 to 3.6 in the energy and heating sector depending on econometric specification.     

Pollution Taxation and Revenue Recycling under Monopoly Unions

A model where a given number of firms determine their pollution-reducing production technologies upon establishment and workers form monopoly unions is used to study the possibility of "double dividends", i.e., simultaneous reductions in pollution and increases in employment, when the pollution tax is increased, and tax revenues recycled, in alternative ways. In all cases pollution is reduced. When output is subsidized, the effect of a pollution tax increase on employment is always neutral. When employment, and investments, are subsidized, employment increases when investments are, respectively, relatively insensitive and sensitive to pollution taxes. Of the three subsidy instruments, the employment subsidy is always the most, and the investment subsidy the least efficient solution.     

Financial advice: Who Exactly Follows It?

Using data from about 290,000 household investment accounts, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the role of personal economic and demographic characteristics in determining the tendency to utilize financial advice. Our findings indicate that investors' sophistication level, captured using several proxies, is negatively correlated with the decision to follow the financial advice received. In addition, we find that individual differences such as age, gender and family status are strongly associated with the tendency to use the advice. The findings are robust under different distributions of the data. Finally, we also test how macroeconomic uncertainty affects the tendency to utilize financial advice. Our results demonstrate that higher levels of financial uncertainty are associated with less use of financial advice.     

An Application of Hedonic Regression to Evaluate Prices of Polish Paintings

As the global financial crisis hit the world-wide stock markets, investors looked for alternative investments to diversify their portfolios. One of the more attractive alternate investment opportunities has been investment in art. However, in order to consider artworks as investment assets, the performance of the artworks must be evaluated in order to compare it to other financial instruments. Therefore, hedonic art price indexes are constructed for different art markets. The art market in Poland is characterized by a limited scale since it has only been developing since 1989. The aim of our research is evaluation of the hedonic art price indexes for Polish paintings. Hedonic regression models are estimated using data from auctions of paintings that took place in Poland in the years 2007–2010.     

Investment decisions and transferable discharge permits: An empirical study of water quality management under policy uncertainty

The problem of investiment decisions for sources participating in transferable discharge permit (TDP) markets has not received much attention. One way TDPs offer potential savings is with their ability to influence development in a region. Static models have assessed the potential savings of TDPs but do not explicitly consider investment decisions; thus they do not capture this long run role nor that of policy uncertainty and tend to understate both the cost saving potential and the difficulty in achieving it. This paper addresses both problems by emphasizing the temporal dimension of TDPs. A two-period investment model investigates the magnitude of these potential savings and the effects of two types of policy uncertainty upon expected gains from permit trading.     

Modeling technological change in energy demand forecasting: A generalized approach

Conventional economic modeling of energy demand has characterized technological choice as an investment decision driven primarily by the relationship between capital costs and operating costs. Yet the implementation of this approach has tended to yield unrealistically high estimates of the implicit discount rate governing investment decisions, particularly those involving energy efficient technologies. This result arises from incomplete specification of the process of technological choice and the diffusion of innovations. General models of diffusion include conventional costs as one set of factors among many others that influence the spread of new technologies. These more general models have been widely applied to the adoption of other new or improved products, and their use in energy demand forecasting would lead to more accurate and reliable projections. Modification of the forecasts would have policy implications. In particular, the cost of a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging more rapid diffusion of energy efficient technologies is likely to be considerably smaller than would be suggested by the conventional economic models.     

我国能源消费存在的主要问题及对策分析

本文分析了我国能源消费具有消费结构以煤炭为主、能源价格改革滞后和能源金融市场发展不足的特点，能源消费存在对环境污染严重、能源利用效率较低和能源技术创新不足的问题。文章最后提出了提高能源使用效率、鼓励能源技术创新的途径和对策。