Does Energy Consumption Respond to Price Shocks? Evidence from a Regression-Discontinuity Design

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Industrial Economics
Year: 2015
Volume: 63
Issue: 2
Pages: 249-278

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 4 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

type="main"> <p>We exploit unique features of a recently introduced tariff schedule for natural gas in Buenos Aires to estimate the short-run impact of price shocks on residential energy utilization. The schedule induces a non-linear and non-monotonic relationship between households' accumulated consumption and unit prices, thus generating exogenous price variation, which we exploit in a regression-discontinuity design. We find that a price increase causes a prompt and significant decline in gas consumption. The results also indicate that consumers respond more to recent past bills than to expected prices, which argues against an assumption of perfect awareness of complex price schedules by consumers.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:jindec:v:63:y:2015:i:2:p:249-278
Journal Field
Industrial Organization
Author Count
4
Added to Database
2026-01-24