eprintid: 35501
rev_number: 17
eprint_status: archive
userid: 3114
dir: disk0/00/03/55/01
datestamp: 2024-10-22 14:17:11
lastmod: 2024-10-31 10:35:15
status_changed: 2024-10-22 14:17:11
type: workingPaper
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Chlond, Bettina
creators_name: Goeschl, Timo
creators_name: Kesternich, Martin
creators_name: Werthschulte, Madeline
title: Transporting behavioral insights to low-income households: A field experiment on energy efficiency investments
subjects: ddc-330
divisions: i-181000
keywords: Transportability; low-income households; field experiment; randomized controlled trial; governmental welfare programs; energy efficiency; technology adoption
abstract: Many industrialized countries have recognized the need to mitigate energy cost increases faced by low-income households by fostering the adoption of energy-efficient technologies. How to meet this need is an open question, but “behavioral insights” are likely components of future policy designs. Applying well-established behavioral insights to low-income households raises questions of transportability as they are typically underrepresented in the existing evidence base. We illustrate this problem by conducting a randomized field experiment on scalable, low-cost design elements to improve program take-up in one of the world’s largest energy efficiency assistance programs. Observing investment decisions of over 1,800 low-income households in Germany’s “Refrigerator Replacement Program”, we find that the transportability problem is real and consequential: First, the most effective policy design would not have been chosen based on existing behavioral insights. Second, design elements favored by these insights either prove ineffective or even backfire, violating ‘do no harm’ principles of policy advice. Systematic testing remains crucial for addressing the transportability problem, particularly for policies targeting vulnerable groups.
date: 2024
publisher: Alfred-Weber-Institut
id_scheme: DOI
id_number: 10.11588/heidok.00035501
schriftenreihe_cluster_id: sr-3
schriftenreihe_order: 0755
ppn_swb: 1907299726
own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-355018
language: eng
bibsort: CHLONDBETTTRANSPORTI20241009
full_text_status: public
series: AWI Discussion Paper Series
volume: 0755
place_of_pub: Heidelberg
pages: 48
citation:   Chlond, Bettina ; Goeschl, Timo ; Kesternich, Martin ; Werthschulte, Madeline  (2024) Transporting behavioral insights to low-income households: A field experiment on energy efficiency investments.  [Working paper]     
document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/35501/7/Chlond_Goeschl_Kesternich_Werthschulte_dp755_2024.pdf