Gender norms and solar panel energy adoption in Australia: Evidence from a natural experiment

Abstract

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the United Kingdom transported convicts to the penal colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. Most of the convicts who were sent to the colonies were men. Treating it as a quasi-natural experiment, we employ the gender imbalance associated with this historical event to examine how gender norms influence the adoption of photovoltaic solar panels (PVS) in modern day Australia. Estimates from our preferred instrumental variable specification suggest that a unit increase in the historical sex ratio causes 3.5 more PVS units to be installed per 1000 population. We provide indirect evidence on the role of female bargaining power as a channel. We find that women living in locations which had higher historical sex ratios report being more satisfied with the division of childcare and household responsibilities, consistent with having greater bargaining power. We find that the effect of historical sex ratios on each of these proxies for female bargaining power is moderated by having an Australian-born parent, such that having an Australian-born parent strengthens the relationship, consistent with gender norms being passed down across generations. We also find that the effect of historical sex ratios on female bargaining power is attenuated by internal migration and greater ethnic diversity in the postcode, both of which weaken the vertical transmission of gender norms.