American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Cash for Coolers: Evaluating a Large-Scale Appliance Replacement Program in Mexico
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 6,
no. 4, November 2014
(pp. 207–38)
Abstract
This paper evaluates a large-scale appliance replacement program in Mexico that from 2009 to 2012 helped 1.9 million households replace their old refrigerators and air conditioners with energyefficient models. Using household-level billing records from the universe of Mexican residential customers, we find that refrigerator replacement reduces electricity consumption by 8 percent, about one-quarter of what was predicted by ex ante analyses. Moreover, we find that air conditioning replacement actually increases electricity consumption. Overall, we find that the program is an expensive way to reduce externalities from energy use, reducing carbon dioxide emissions at a program cost of over $500 per ton.Citation
Davis, Lucas W., Alan Fuchs, and Paul Gertler. 2014. "Cash for Coolers: Evaluating a Large-Scale Appliance Replacement Program in Mexico." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 6 (4): 207–38. DOI: 10.1257/pol.6.4.207Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- L68 Appliances; Furniture; Other Consumer Durables
- L94 Electric Utilities
- O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
- O13 Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products
- Q41 Energy: Demand and Supply; Prices
- Q54 Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming