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Registration

Field Before After
Trial End Date April 15, 2019 June 29, 2019
Last Published October 28, 2019 11:17 AM December 19, 2024 05:32 AM
Study Withdrawn No
Intervention Completion Date June 29, 2019
Data Collection Complete Yes
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization) 24 clusters (48 firms)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status? No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations 43 firms
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms 21 firms control, 22 firms energy audit
Public Data URL https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AWLTYI
Program Files Yes
Program Files URL https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AWLTYI
Data Collection Completion Date June 29, 2019
Is data available for public use? Yes
Keyword(s) Environment And Energy, Firms And Productivity Environment And Energy, Firms And Productivity
Building on Existing Work No
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Papers

Field Before After
Paper Abstract We study whether structured management practices affect the uptake and impact of industrial energy efficiency measures, which are widely considered important for mitigating climate change. In a randomized experiment that provides small- and medium-sized metal machining firms with tailored recommendations to improve energy efficiency, we find that the likelihood of recommendation adoption increases with a firm’s management practice score. However, the intervention’s main effect—a reduction in the unit cost of electricity—is larger in firms with less developed structured practices. We find that this effect can be traced to managers’ suboptimal selection of transformer-related parameters at baseline, which resulted in higher electricity costs. This “energy management gap” is most strongly associated with low monitoring, target-setting, and incentive practice scores. Our findings suggest that structured management practices may help firms absorb new ideas that are expected to reduce physical energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, while tailoring interventions to address management practice gaps in low-scoring firms may unlock opportunities to save energy cost. However, impact on greenhouse gas emissions may be limited.
Paper Citation Karplus, V.J. and Zhang, D. (2022). When “Low-Hanging Fruit” Are Beyond Reach: Management Practices and Firm Energy Efficiency. MIT CEEPR Working Paper 2022-009.
Paper URL https://ceepr.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/2022-009.pdf
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