Xavier Labandeira

A Residential Energy Demand System for Spain

Sharp price fluctuations and increasing environmental and distributional concerns, among other issues, have led to a renewed academic interest in energy demand. In this paper we estimate, for the first time in Spain, an energy demand system with household microdata. In doing so, we tackle several econometric and data problems that are generally recognized to bias parameter estimates. This is obviously relevant, as obtaining correct price and income responses is essential if they may be used for assessing the economic consequences of hypothetical or real changes. With this objective, we combine data sources for a long time period and choose a demand system with flexible income and price responses. We also estimate the model in different sub-samples to capture varying responses to energy price changes by households living in rural, intermediate and urban areas. This constitutes a first attempt in the literature and it proved to be a very successful choice.

Energy Efficiency: Economics and Policy

Energy efficiency and conservation are major elements for the improvement of the environmental impact of the energy sector, particularly regarding climate change. Energy efficiency also contributes to reducing external dependence and vulnerabilities in the energy domain. In this paper we discuss the factors that influence energy efficiency and conservation decisions, and the most appropriate policies for their promotion. Although not all public policies seem justified, we argue that specific policies for promoting energy conservation may be required, preferably based on economic instruments or on the provision of information to consumers.

Estimation and control of Spanish energy-related CO2 emissions: an input–output approach

This article uses input–output methods to obtain the energy-related CO2 intensities for the Spanish economy in 1992. Based on those intensities, it yields a structural decomposition of Spanish energy-related CO2 emissions and an estimation of the price effects of several hypothetical carbon taxes levied on fossil fuel consumption. These results are related to the ongoing discussion within EU circles and member states about the consequences of carbon/energy taxes, and to the simulated effects of such taxes in various countries. The paper also responds to the lack of reliable disaggregated data on Spanish CO2 emissions and to the growing awareness on the limited effectiveness of Spanish climate change policies.

Pro-environmental Households and Energy Efficiency in Spain

The residential building sector is a major driver of current and future energy consumption and associated emissions, which can be potentially mitigated through significant energy-efficiency (EE) improvements in both emerging and developed countries. Yet, there are several persistent barriers that hinder the attainment of EE improvements in this area. Using data from a 2008 national representative survey of Spanish households, this paper is interested in the determinants of EE-related decisions. In particular, a discrete-choice model empirically analyzes whether pro-environmental households are more likely to invest in EE and to adopt daily energy-saving habits. We show that households with eco-friendly behaviors are more likely to investment in well-differentiated EE measures as well as to steer daily habits towards energy savings. However, no effects are found for households with environmental attitudes based on stated willingness to pay to protect the environment. In addition to this, households belonging to higher income groups and education levels are more likely to invest in EE but not to adopt energy-saving habits; while households with older members are less likely to invest in EE and show fewer eco-friendly habits.

The Role of Information for Energy Efficiency in the Residential Sector

In spite of the large potential and existing efforts to foster energy efficiency in the residential sector, much remains to be achieved. This may be partially due to the many barriers and market failures faced by energy efficiency, which are even greater in the residential sector. In particular, informational failures seem to be pervasive and relevant in this area. Addressing these issues requires specific policy instruments and strategies. This paper reviews the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of such instruments, focusing on energy certificates, feedback programs, and energy audits. Results show that energy certificates and feedback programs can be effective, but only if they are carefully designed. Yet energy audits seem to have little effect on efficiency. In addition, the paper points out the large potential for new instruments as well as combinations of existing ones.

Barriers to the introduction of market-based instruments in climate policies: an integrated theoretical framework

Many economists propose the superiority of market-based instruments, and an increasing use of such measures in OECD countries has taken place. However, there has been (and still is) some reluctance by policymakers to use market-based instruments in climate policy. This article provides a theoretical framework to help explain this paradox. This framework combines standard environmental economics reasoning with two economic approaches: the institutional path dependence and the public choice perspectives, complemented with some insights from political science studies. Ex post empirical research using the Spanish case illustrates the accuracy and policy relevance of our approach. Analyzing the barriers to market-based measures in climate policy may allow us to draw lessons to facilitate the implementation of these instruments in the future.

Towards a green tax reform model

This paper is concerned with the role of environmental taxes in contemporary tax reform processes. It uses the theories of taxation, tax reform and environmental policy to explore the relationship between real-world environmental taxation and applied tax reforms, establishing an almost perfect integration of environmental taxes in contemporary tax reforms. This defines a ‘green’ variant of the universal hybrid-extensive reform model, clearly related to the ideas on double dividends from environmental taxes, which indicates the likely importance of environmental taxation in future fiscal and environmental policies. Copyright

A Panorama on Energy Taxes and Green Tax Reforms

This article provides an overview of specific and systemic applications of energy taxes and environmental (or green) tax reforms. To do so it combines a theoretical and empirical assessment of the literature with a non-exhaustive description of the practice of these instruments and packages in the real world. Besides yielding a comprehensive approximation to the specific and systemic use of energy taxes, the paper contributes to the literature on this issue by reflecting on the present and future of these instruments in a particularly shifting world.

Climate change, buildings and energy prices

Buildings are crucial to control present and future energy demand and, therefore, greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. In this chapter we suggest that, due to a number of general and specific barriers to the implementation of energy efficiency in buildings, energy prices and conventional energy and environmental policy instruments may not achieve the desired outcomes. Instead, we suggest a novel package of complementary measures that can simultaneously tackle the problems of imperfect information, split incentives among agents, uncertainty about cost and limited access to capital. The proposed policy package is defined around energy certification of buildings, uses flexible building codes, smart metering and employs a new tax on energy inefficiency to foster continuous incentives towards energy efficiency improvements and to provide revenues for an energy efficiency fund that provides capital to firms and poor households.

Policy Instruments to Foster Energy Efficiency

In this chapter we start by enumerating the reasons why progress in realizing the energy efficiency potential has been so limited both for firms and households. Then we turn to the role of policy in moving agents closer to an optimal level of energy efficiency. Governments have a range of instruments at their disposal for doing so and while some of them have been successful others have not. Lessons can therefore be learnt from the experience in implementing these different measures. The paper ends with some thoughts on how policies can be made more effective.