scholarly journals Power to Choose? An Analysis of Consumer Inertia in the Residential Electricity Market

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 192-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Hortaçsu ◽  
Seyed Ali Madanizadeh ◽  
Steven L. Puller
Keyword(s):  
Electricity Market ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Consumer Surplus ◽  
Retail Competition ◽  
Search Frictions ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Consumer Benefits ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Residential Electricity

Many jurisdictions around the world have deregulated utilities and opened retail markets to competition. However, inertial decision making can diminish consumer benefits of retail competition. Using household-level data from the Texas residential electricity market, we document evidence of consumer inertia. We estimate an econometric model of retail choice to measure two sources of inertia: search frictions/inattention and a brand advantage that consumers afford the incumbent. We find that households rarely search for alternative retailers, and when they do search, households attach a brand advantage to the incumbent. Counterfactual experiments show that low-cost information interventions can notably increase consumer surplus. (JEL D12, D83, L81, L94, L98, M31)

scholarly journals Knowledge is (Less) Power: Experimental Evidence from Residential Energy Use

2014 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 1417-1438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Jessoe ◽  
David Rapson
Keyword(s):  
Imperfect Information ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Residential Energy ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
Elasticity Of Demand ◽  
Price Increases ◽  
Residential Electricity ◽  
Residential Energy Use ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Abatement

Imperfect information about product attributes inhibits efficiency in many choice settings, but can be overcome by providing simple, low-cost information. We use a randomized control trial to test the effect of high-frequency information about residential electricity usage on the price elasticity of demand. Informed households are three standard deviations more responsive to temporary price increases, an effect that is not attributable to price salience. Conservation extends beyond pricing events in the short and medium run, providing evidence of habit formation and implying that the intervention leads to greenhouse gas abatement. Survey evidence suggests that information facilitates learning. (JEL D12, D83, L11, L94, Q41, Q54)

Hasty Pudding Versus Tasty Bread: Regional Variations in Diet and Nutrition during the Industrial Revolution

2012 ◽  
pp. 9-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Horrell ◽  
Deborah Oxley
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Products ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Level Information ◽  
Local Supply ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Nutritional Score

Using parish-level information from Sir F.M. Eden's The state of the poor (1797) we can identify typical diets for the counties of England. These diets varied considerably and afforded very different standards of nutrition. We compute a nutritional score for this diet, paying attention to the presence of vitamins, minerals and micronutrients shown to be essential for health and growth in constructing this measure. Other information in the reports allows us to relate county-level nutrition to factors in the local economy. In particular we find nutrition was positively related to the availability of common land in the area and to women's remunerated work if conducted from home. Lack of common land and little local supply of dairy products also pushed households into buying white wheaten bread rather than baking their own wholemeal loaf. Replicating some of this analysis with household-level data confirms these results. Diet also maps onto stature: male convicts to Australia were significantly taller if they originated in a county with a more nutritious diet. This verifies the important impact of nutrition on stature and demonstrates the sensitivity of height as a measure of key aspects of welfare.

Middle and Below Living Standards: What Can We Learn from Beyond Income Measures of Economic Well-being?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marii Paskov ◽  
Joan E. Madia ◽  
Tim Goedemé
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Material Deprivation ◽  
Living Standards ◽  
Household Level ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Household Incomes ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Economic Well Being

This chapter complements the income-based measures of living standards on which earlier chapters have focused by incorporating non-income dimensions of economic well-being into its analysis, including indicators of material deprivation, economic burdens, and financial stress. It analyses how working-age households around and below the middle of the income distribution fared in European countries in the years before, during, and after the Great Recession. Harmonized household-level data across the members of the EU are analysed to see whether the evolution of these various non-income measures present a similar or different picture to household incomes over time. To probe what lies behind the patterns this reveals, four quite different countries are then examined in greater depth. Finally, the chapter also explores the relationship between material deprivation for households around and below the middle and overall income inequality.

scholarly journals The Effect of Social Behavior on Residential Water Consumption

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1184
Author(s):  
Daniel Morales Martínez ◽  
Alexandre Gori Maia
Keyword(s):  
Water Consumption ◽  
Spatial Dependence ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Innovative Strategy ◽  
Peer Effect ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Household Water ◽  
Residential Water Consumption ◽  
Residential Water

We analyze how residential water consumption is influenced by the consumption of households belonging to the same social group (peer effect). Analyses are based on household-level data provided by the Brazilian Household Budget Survey and use an innovative strategy that estimates the spatial dependence of water consumption while simultaneously controlling for potential sources of sample selectivity and endogeneity. The estimates of our quantile regression models highlight that, conditional on household characteristics, the greater the household water consumption, the greater the peer effect. In other words, the overconsumption of residential water seems to be influenced mainly by the behavior of social peers.

scholarly journals Turning Base Transceiver Stations into Scalable and Controllable DC Microgrids Based on a Smart Sensing Strategy

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1202
Author(s):  
Miguel Tradacete ◽  
Carlos Santos ◽  
José A. Jiménez ◽  
Fco Javier Rodríguez ◽  
Pedro Martín ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electricity Market ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Storage System ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Energy Storage System ◽  
Electricity Grid ◽  
Dc Microgrids ◽  
Smart Sensing ◽  
Battery Energy

This paper describes a practical approach to the transformation of Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) into scalable and controllable DC Microgrids in which an energy management system (EMS) is developed to maximize the economic benefit. The EMS strategy focuses on efficiently managing a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) along with photovoltaic (PV) energy generation, and non-critical load-shedding. The EMS collects data such as real-time energy consumption and generation, and environmental parameters such as temperature, wind speed and irradiance, using a smart sensing strategy whereby measurements can be recorded and computing can be performed both locally and in the cloud. Within the Spanish electricity market and applying a two-tariff pricing, annual savings per installed battery power of 16.8 euros/kW are achieved. The system has the advantage that it can be applied to both new and existing installations, providing a two-way connection to the electricity grid, PV generation, smart measurement systems and the necessary management software. All these functions are integrated in a flexible and low cost HW/SW architecture. Finally, the whole system is validated through real tests carried out on a pilot plant and under different weather conditions.

scholarly journals Meat Demand Monitor during COVID-19

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1040
Author(s):  
Glynn Tonsor ◽  
Jayson Lusk ◽  
Shauna Tonsor
Keyword(s):  
Meat Products ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Meat Demand ◽  
Pork Products ◽  
Food Expenditures ◽  
Hoarding Behavior ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Us ◽  
Demand Changes

Meat products represent a significant share of US consumer food expenditures. The COVID-19 pandemic directly impacted both demand and supply of US beef and pork products for a prolonged period, resulting in a myriad of economic impacts. The complex disruptions create significant challenges in isolating and inferring consumer-demand changes from lagged secondary data. Thus, we turn to novel household-level data from a continuous consumer tracking survey, the Meat Demand Monitor, launched in February 2020, just before the US pandemic. We find diverse impacts across US households related to “hoarding” behavior and financial confidence over the course of the pandemic. Combined, these insights extend our understanding of pandemic impacts on US consumers and provide a timely example of knowledge enabled by ongoing and targeted household-level data collection and analysis.

Flexible long range planning using low cost information

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan De Dios Ortúzar ◽  
Luis G. Willumsen
Keyword(s):  
Long Range ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cost Information ◽  
Long Range Planning

scholarly journals Testing an “IoT” Tide Gauge Network for Coastal Monitoring

IoT ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-32
Author(s):  
Philip Knight ◽  
Cai Bird ◽  
Alex Sinclair ◽  
Jonathan Higham ◽  
Andy Plater
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Tide Gauges ◽  
Coastal Monitoring ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Operational Constraints

A low-cost “Internet of Things” (IoT) tide gauge network was developed to provide real-time and “delayed mode” sea-level data to support monitoring of spatial and temporal coastal morphological changes. It is based on the Arduino Sigfox MKR 1200 micro-controller platform with a Measurement Specialties pressure sensor (MS5837). Experiments at two sites colocated with established tide gauges show that these inexpensive pressure sensors can make accurate sea-level measurements. While these pressure sensors are capable of ~1 cm accuracy, as with other comparable gauges, the effect of significant wave activity can distort the overall sea-level measurements. Various off-the-shelf hardware and software configurations were tested to provide complementary data as part of a localized network and to overcome operational constraints, such as lack of suitable infrastructure for mounting the tide gauges and for exposed beach locations.

scholarly journals Costing the cold: Connecting fuel poverty & supplier switching in Wellington, New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sam McLean
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Electricity Market ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
Electricity Prices ◽  
Energy Services ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Competitive Prices ◽  
Supplier Switching ◽  
Equitable Outcomes

<p>Fuel poverty describes the inability of households to afford adequate energy services, such as space heating. In New Zealand, where 25% of households are estimated to be ‘fuel poor’, high electricity prices in a restructured electricity market have an important influence on fuel poverty. However, the ability of the New Zealand Government to regulate these high electricity prices is constrained. Consequently, there is a strong reliance on consumers to switch energy suppliers, which promotes competitive prices and in turn regulates the price of electricity. In contrast to energy efficiency improvements, switching offers fuel poor households a low-cost opportunity to improve the short-term affordability of energy services. Yet, switching is suggested to not benefit fuel poor households who are in most need of affordable energy.  This thesis explored the relationship between fuel poverty and supplier switching in Wellington, New Zealand through a geographic lens. First, a new approach to identifying fuel poverty in New Zealand was applied. Using geographic information systems (GIS), a fuel poverty index was calculated to identify fuel poverty in Wellington at meshblock level. Spatial analysis of the index revealed the complexity of identifying fuel poverty and the extent to which the spatial distribution of fuel poverty in Wellington is shaped by the city’s colonial history. The index was then used to identify survey participants through which a survey was conducted exploring Wellington households’ switching behaviours. In a competitive market, consumers are expected to switch according to economically rational behaviours. However, switching behaviours in the survey sample were influenced by factors other than these economically rational behaviours. Integrating the findings of this thesis supports suggestions that switching is not benefiting the fuel poor. Finally, this thesis sheds light on the extent to which an understanding of the geography of fuel poverty can be applied towards improving the effectiveness of policy and equitable outcomes for fuel poor households.</p>

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