Germany’s Energiewende: A Tale of Increasing Costs and Decreasing Willingness-To-Pay
通过2013和2015年两次调查，发现德国消费者对绿色电力的支付意愿随能源转型成本上升而下降，并区分了受访者的确定性程度以处理假设性偏差。
ABSTRACT This paper presents evidence that the accumulating cost of Germany’s ambitious plan to transform its system of energy provision—the so-called Energiewende— is butting up against consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for it. Following a descriptive presentation that traces the German promotion of renewable energy technologies since 2000, we draw on two stated-preference surveys conducted in 2013 and 2015 that elicit the households’ WTP for green electricity. Two models are estimated, one based on a closed-ended question framed around Germany’s target of 35% renewable energy in electricity provision by 2020, and the other on an open-ended format that captures changes in WTP over time. To deal with the bias that typifies hypothetical responses, the models distinguish respondents according to whether they express definite certainty in their reported WTP. The results from both models reveal a strong contrast between the households’ general acceptance of supporting renewable energy technologies and their own WTP for green electricity.