Efficiency and Equity Impacts of Energy Subsidies

Last registered on January 08, 2021

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Efficiency and Equity Impacts of Energy Subsidies

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0006999

Initial registration date

January 07, 2021

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

January 08, 2021, 11:41 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated

January 08, 2021, 11:47 AM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

California

Primary Investigator

Name

Robert Metcalfe

Affiliation

University of Southern California

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Robert Hahn

PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status

Completed

Start date

2013-01-04

End date

2015-12-31

Keywords

Environment & Energy

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Abstract

Economic theory suggests that energy subsidies can lead to excessive consumption and environmental degradation. However, the precise impact of energy subsidies is not well understood. We will analyze a large energy subsidy: the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE). CARE provides a price reduction for low-income consumers of natural gas and electricity. We will randomize an encouragement to take up CARE, and then assess the impact that CARE has on energy use.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Hahn , Robert and Robert Metcalfe. 2021. "Efficiency and Equity Impacts of Energy Subsidies." AEA RCT Registry. January 08. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6999-1.1

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We will randomize an encouragement to sign up for CARE. The encouragement will have four different versions, which will be also be randomized.

Intervention Start Date

2013-01-04

Intervention End Date

2015-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Gas use per month.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

We will randomize an encouragement to sign up for CARE across a set of energy customers. The experiment will take place in two waves.

The first wave: 1/5 of our sample will receive no encouragement, and then the remaining 4/5 customers will be given a randomized encouragement.

The second wave: 1/4 of our sample will receive no encouragement, and then the remaining 3/4 customers will be given a randomized encouragement.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done on stata.

Randomization Unit

Individual household

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

Not applicable.

Sample size: planned number of observations

70,784

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

The first wave (36,796 households): 1/5 of our sample will receive no encouragement, and then the remaining 4/5 customers will be given a randomized encouragement.

The second wave (33,988 households): 1/4 of our sample will receive no encouragement, and then the remaining 3/4 customers will be given a randomized encouragement.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB