Pub Date : 2026-01-14DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2025.109098
Dana Kassem, Giulia Zane, Eustace Uzor
{"title":"Revisiting the Last Mile: The development effects of a mass electrification program in Kenya","authors":"Dana Kassem, Giulia Zane, Eustace Uzor","doi":"10.1016/j.eneco.2025.109098","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2025.109098","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11665,"journal":{"name":"Energy Economics","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145962437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-13DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109145
Weimin Zhang, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Cutler Cleveland
{"title":"Do decarbonization policies work? Evidence from a global meta-analysis","authors":"Weimin Zhang, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Cutler Cleveland","doi":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109145","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11665,"journal":{"name":"Energy Economics","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145962438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-12DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109140
Guifeng Shi, Yiyang Xi
In emerging markets characterized by heavy government intervention, government-dominated resource allocation plays an important role in cultivating sustainable firms. This paper investigates its effectiveness in fostering corporate green innovation by exploiting a quasi-experimental setting in China. We find that the government-led resource allocation reform known as the Area-based Evaluation Mechanism Reform detrimentally influences green innovation activities of highly polluting firms. We attribute the negative effect to the short-termism channel rather than the quiet life channel, as the reform drives firms toward short-termism, crowding out their incentives for long-term environmental sustainability. We also investigate how this reform interacts with local government incentives. Although the reform delivers short-term economic gains, these benefits do not justify the observed reductions in corporate green innovation, productivity, and innovative efficiency. Our empirical evidence highlights the unintended negative consequences of the policy instrument for sustainable development and the need to place greater focus on environmental targets in emerging markets.
{"title":"The unintended consequences of the area-based evaluation mechanism reform on green innovation: Evidence from highly polluting firms in China","authors":"Guifeng Shi, Yiyang Xi","doi":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109140","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109140","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In emerging markets characterized by heavy government intervention, government-dominated resource allocation plays an important role in cultivating sustainable firms. This paper investigates its effectiveness in fostering corporate green innovation by exploiting a quasi-experimental setting in China. We find that the government-led resource allocation reform known as the <em>Area-based Evaluation Mechanism Reform</em> detrimentally influences green innovation activities of highly polluting firms. We attribute the negative effect to the short-termism channel rather than the quiet life channel, as the reform drives firms toward short-termism, crowding out their incentives for long-term environmental sustainability. We also investigate how this reform interacts with local government incentives. Although the reform delivers short-term economic gains, these benefits do not justify the observed reductions in corporate green innovation, productivity, and innovative efficiency. Our empirical evidence highlights the unintended negative consequences of the policy instrument for sustainable development and the need to place greater focus on environmental targets in emerging markets.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11665,"journal":{"name":"Energy Economics","volume":"154 ","pages":"Article 109140"},"PeriodicalIF":14.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145973753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-11DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109134
Brian Fowler , Steven van Passel , Pieter Valkering , Sebastien Lizin
As Europe phases out petroleum-powered vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are expected to become the norm. However, realizing their full environmental and grid-stabilizing potential depends on drivers' willingness to adopt home chargers that support flexibility services, such as shifting charging to off-peak hours, responding to variable renewable energy supply, and selling stored electricity back to the grid. Using a discrete choice experiment with a sample of 769 Belgian drivers (representative by age, region, and gender), we structurally estimate an implicit discount rate (IDR) that captures drivers' willingness to trade upfront charger costs for future annualized electric-bill savings. This model simultaneously estimates preferences for specific flexibility-enhancing features, revealing which types of charging flexibility drivers are most willing to adopt. We find that the average driver applies an IDR of 28.5%, while a latent majority class comprising 79.86% of respondents—younger, better-educated drivers—applies a lower IDR of 23%. Since both of these IDRs are greater than the typical 4–5% financial market interest rate, we conclude that drivers apply a flexibility discount rate gap to PEV charging investment. Nonetheless, they also show a willingness to adopt solar charging, dynamic load management, and vehicle-to-home-and-grid charging, indicating potential for the majority of drivers to adopt flexible PEV chargers once financial barriers are addressed. Finally, our results show behavioral, demographic, and attitudinal characteristics that are associated with membership in the majority class—those more likely to invest in a flexible charger—highlighting pathways to bridge the discount rate gap and promote adoption of flexibility-enabling technologies.
{"title":"Is flexible plug-in electric vehicle charging an attractive investment? Evidence from implicit discount rate estimation","authors":"Brian Fowler , Steven van Passel , Pieter Valkering , Sebastien Lizin","doi":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109134","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109134","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As Europe phases out petroleum-powered vehicles, plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are expected to become the norm. However, realizing their full environmental and grid-stabilizing potential depends on drivers' willingness to adopt home chargers that support flexibility services, such as shifting charging to off-peak hours, responding to variable renewable energy supply, and selling stored electricity back to the grid. Using a discrete choice experiment with a sample of 769 Belgian drivers (representative by age, region, and gender), we structurally estimate an implicit discount rate (IDR) that captures drivers' willingness to trade upfront charger costs for future annualized electric-bill savings. This model simultaneously estimates preferences for specific flexibility-enhancing features, revealing which types of charging flexibility drivers are most willing to adopt. We find that the average driver applies an IDR of 28.5%, while a latent majority class comprising 79.86% of respondents—younger, better-educated drivers—applies a lower IDR of 23%. Since both of these IDRs are greater than the typical 4–5% financial market interest rate, we conclude that drivers apply a flexibility discount rate gap to PEV charging investment. Nonetheless, they also show a willingness to adopt solar charging, dynamic load management, and vehicle-to-home-and-grid charging, indicating potential for the majority of drivers to adopt flexible PEV chargers once financial barriers are addressed. Finally, our results show behavioral, demographic, and attitudinal characteristics that are associated with membership in the majority class—those more likely to invest in a flexible charger—highlighting pathways to bridge the discount rate gap and promote adoption of flexibility-enabling technologies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11665,"journal":{"name":"Energy Economics","volume":"154 ","pages":"Article 109134"},"PeriodicalIF":14.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145956796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-09DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109138
Congyi Dai , Ryan McCord , Katerina B. Beach , Andrea Mahieu , Thabbie Chilongo , Charles Jumbe , Pamela Jagger
Financial inclusion and energy access are development priorities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly in rural areas. Many households in SSA struggle to attain access to financial services including mobile money, bank accounts, and informal loans, which allow households to mitigate financial risks by relieving capital constraints and promoting investment and asset accumulation. At the same time, over 600 million people in SSA had no electricity access in 2023. Off-grid solar is considered one of the most cost-effective, feasible, and rapid solutions to provide energy access for rural households. Using data from a 1138-household two-wave quasi-experimental impact evaluation focused on solar technology adoption and impacts in rural Malawi, we explore the association between financial inclusion and solar technology adoption. We hypothesize that adoption of solar technologies catalyzes use of mobile money – a financial inclusion mechanism common throughout SSA. We find that households with solar home systems are 40 percentage points more likely to use mobile money, while those with standalone solar technologies are 32 percentage points more likely to do so. Through mediation analysis, we confirm that access to reliable phone charging is the main pathway connecting solar adoption and mobile money use. We also observe an approximately two-fold increase in participation in informal savings groups associated with solar adoption, likely through increased access to mobile money, which allows people to easily and securely pool finances. The connection between solar adoption and increased access to two key financial inclusion mechanisms suggests a win-win outcome for policymakers seeking to improve energy access and opportunities for economic growth through financial inclusion in rural Africa.
{"title":"Unlocking financial inclusion through solar technology adoption in Malawi","authors":"Congyi Dai , Ryan McCord , Katerina B. Beach , Andrea Mahieu , Thabbie Chilongo , Charles Jumbe , Pamela Jagger","doi":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109138","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109138","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Financial inclusion and energy access are development priorities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly in rural areas. Many households in SSA struggle to attain access to financial services including mobile money, bank accounts, and informal loans, which allow households to mitigate financial risks by relieving capital constraints and promoting investment and asset accumulation. At the same time, over 600 million people in SSA had no electricity access in 2023. Off-grid solar is considered one of the most cost-effective, feasible, and rapid solutions to provide energy access for rural households. Using data from a 1138-household two-wave quasi-experimental impact evaluation focused on solar technology adoption and impacts in rural Malawi, we explore the association between financial inclusion and solar technology adoption. We hypothesize that adoption of solar technologies catalyzes use of mobile money – a financial inclusion mechanism common throughout SSA. We find that households with solar home systems are 40 percentage points more likely to use mobile money, while those with standalone solar technologies are 32 percentage points more likely to do so. Through mediation analysis, we confirm that access to reliable phone charging is the main pathway connecting solar adoption and mobile money use. We also observe an approximately two-fold increase in participation in informal savings groups associated with solar adoption, likely through increased access to mobile money, which allows people to easily and securely pool finances. The connection between solar adoption and increased access to two key financial inclusion mechanisms suggests a win-win outcome for policymakers seeking to improve energy access and opportunities for economic growth through financial inclusion in rural Africa.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11665,"journal":{"name":"Energy Economics","volume":"154 ","pages":"Article 109138"},"PeriodicalIF":14.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145956797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-08DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109137
Yuedong Xiao , Wenling Liu , Lei Gao , Fengtai Zhang , Yulin Zhu , Xueyang Wang
Decoupling carbon emissions from economic growth is a key pathway to address climate change. However, most studies overlook the behavioral mechanisms behind the non-linear growth of household emissions and the challenges this non-linearity implies for decoupling. This study advances a consumption-transition model related to carbon emissions. The theoretical model suggests that once income exceeds a critical threshold, households shift from basic-needs spending to symbolic consumption and may imitate consumption patterns of higher-income households. This change can sharply increase demand for carbon-intensive goods and alter the decoupling status. Using China Family Panel Studies data for 2014–2022, we empirically identify an income threshold in household emissions, namely a carbon emission growth turning point (CEGTP), after which emissions rise more rapidly with income. Sensitivity analysis indicates that emission patterns remain stable within ±15% of the CEGTP, enabling robust comparison between high- and low-income households. We find that more than half of urban households have disposable income below the CEGTP, which may imply a significant risk of future emission increases. Consistent with the theoretical model, labor-dominated households exhibit a higher income elasticity of emissions than households dominated by older individuals or children, because working-age adults may be more prone and able to engage in symbolic consumption. The higher elasticity is primarily driven by discretionary spending, such as travel, rather than necessities like food, residential energy, or clothing. Thus, the key to achieving decoupling is to apply targeted policies to steer incremental consumption onto a low-carbon path.
{"title":"The income threshold of household carbon emissions: Nonlinear growth and decoupling challenges","authors":"Yuedong Xiao , Wenling Liu , Lei Gao , Fengtai Zhang , Yulin Zhu , Xueyang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109137","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109137","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Decoupling carbon emissions from economic growth is a key pathway to address climate change. However, most studies overlook the behavioral mechanisms behind the non-linear growth of household emissions and the challenges this non-linearity implies for decoupling. This study advances a consumption-transition model related to carbon emissions. The theoretical model suggests that once income exceeds a critical threshold, households shift from basic-needs spending to symbolic consumption and may imitate consumption patterns of higher-income households. This change can sharply increase demand for carbon-intensive goods and alter the decoupling status. Using China Family Panel Studies data for 2014–2022, we empirically identify an income threshold in household emissions, namely a carbon emission growth turning point (CEGTP), after which emissions rise more rapidly with income. Sensitivity analysis indicates that emission patterns remain stable within ±15% of the CEGTP, enabling robust comparison between high- and low-income households. We find that more than half of urban households have disposable income below the CEGTP, which may imply a significant risk of future emission increases. Consistent with the theoretical model, labor-dominated households exhibit a higher income elasticity of emissions than households dominated by older individuals or children, because working-age adults may be more prone and able to engage in symbolic consumption. The higher elasticity is primarily driven by discretionary spending, such as travel, rather than necessities like food, residential energy, or clothing. Thus, the key to achieving decoupling is to apply targeted policies to steer incremental consumption onto a low-carbon path.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11665,"journal":{"name":"Energy Economics","volume":"154 ","pages":"Article 109137"},"PeriodicalIF":14.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145973179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-06DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109136
Ying Wang , Honghong Wei , Andreas Kontoleon
Urban agglomeration (UA), as a model of regional integration, provides a platform for advancing sustainable urban development and carbon emission reduction. Treating the urban agglomeration implementation in China as a quasi-natural experiment, we use the high-speed rail (HSR)-weighting spatial difference-in-differences (SDID) method to examine both the direct and indirect effects of UA on carbon emission reduction. Using a balanced panel data set of 195 cities from 2004 to 2019 in China, our empirical results show that UA directly impacts carbon emission abatement in core cities and indirectly affects neighboring cities through inter-city HSR connections. Furthermore, the mechanism analysis suggests that: (1) UA reduces carbon emissions by upgrading industrial structures, generating a “borrowed-size” effect that promotes structural optimization and reduces carbon emissions in neighboring cities; (2) UA reduces carbon emissions by decreasing energy intensity, but the resulting siphon effect increases energy consumption in neighboring cities; (3) UA promotes local carbon emission reduction by stimulating technological innovation and diversification agglomeration, but does not influence carbon emissions in neighboring cities through these mechanisms. These findings provide useful insights into how UA and inter-city HSR facilitate the transition towards a low-carbon society.
{"title":"How does urban agglomeration contribute to achieving carbon reduction targets? Evidence from an HSR-weighting spatial DID approach","authors":"Ying Wang , Honghong Wei , Andreas Kontoleon","doi":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109136","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109136","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Urban agglomeration (UA), as a model of regional integration, provides a platform for advancing sustainable urban development and carbon emission reduction. Treating the urban agglomeration implementation in China as a quasi-natural experiment, we use the high-speed rail (HSR)-weighting spatial difference-in-differences (SDID) method to examine both the direct and indirect effects of UA on carbon emission reduction. Using a balanced panel data set of 195 cities from 2004 to 2019 in China, our empirical results show that UA directly impacts carbon emission abatement in core cities and indirectly affects neighboring cities through inter-city HSR connections. Furthermore, the mechanism analysis suggests that: (1) UA reduces carbon emissions by upgrading industrial structures, generating a “borrowed-size” effect that promotes structural optimization and reduces carbon emissions in neighboring cities; (2) UA reduces carbon emissions by decreasing energy intensity, but the resulting siphon effect increases energy consumption in neighboring cities; (3) UA promotes local carbon emission reduction by stimulating technological innovation and diversification agglomeration, but does not influence carbon emissions in neighboring cities through these mechanisms. These findings provide useful insights into how UA and inter-city HSR facilitate the transition towards a low-carbon society.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11665,"journal":{"name":"Energy Economics","volume":"154 ","pages":"Article 109136"},"PeriodicalIF":14.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145939745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-05DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109132
Lei Zhou , Shaoxin Hong , Siyan Su
There are two types of Basin Ecological Compensation Policies (BECP) in China: a formal policy initiated by the central government in the Xin'an River Basin and an informal policy organized by local governments in the Wei River Basin. We use a difference-in-differences (DID) approach to identify and compare the effects of these two policy types. We find that the BECP in the Xin'an River Basin significantly reduces enterprises' water pollutant emissions but also decreases Total Factor Productivity (TFP), whereas the BECP in the Wei River Basin has no significant effect. In addition, enterprises in the Xin'an River Basin experience reduced output and increased investment in cleaner production practices, which serve as the main channels through which water pollutant emissions decline. We further show that the economic losses borne by upstream regions exceed the compensation they receive, indicating that the compensation funds are insufficient. Finally, heterogeneity analyses reveal that the effectiveness of the BECP depends on factors such as adjacency to provincial boundaries, river length within a county, the number of industrial enterprises, and enterprise tax levels. These findings provide useful insights for the broader application of BECPs and for negotiations over compensation funding.
{"title":"Effects of basin ecological compensation policies in China: Insights from policy design differences","authors":"Lei Zhou , Shaoxin Hong , Siyan Su","doi":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109132","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109132","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There are two types of Basin Ecological Compensation Policies (BECP) in China: a formal policy initiated by the central government in the Xin'an River Basin and an informal policy organized by local governments in the Wei River Basin. We use a difference-in-differences (DID) approach to identify and compare the effects of these two policy types. We find that the BECP in the Xin'an River Basin significantly reduces enterprises' water pollutant emissions but also decreases Total Factor Productivity (TFP), whereas the BECP in the Wei River Basin has no significant effect. In addition, enterprises in the Xin'an River Basin experience reduced output and increased investment in cleaner production practices, which serve as the main channels through which water pollutant emissions decline. We further show that the economic losses borne by upstream regions exceed the compensation they receive, indicating that the compensation funds are insufficient. Finally, heterogeneity analyses reveal that the effectiveness of the BECP depends on factors such as adjacency to provincial boundaries, river length within a county, the number of industrial enterprises, and enterprise tax levels. These findings provide useful insights for the broader application of BECPs and for negotiations over compensation funding.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11665,"journal":{"name":"Energy Economics","volume":"154 ","pages":"Article 109132"},"PeriodicalIF":14.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145939744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-04DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2025.109118
Zhongzhu Chu , Weijie Tan , Boru Ren , Zhiyi Xia
Frequent extreme climate events have heightened climate policy uncertainty (CPU) and incorporating the social cost of carbon has become a key element for countries seeking to improve their institutions in response to climate risks. Focusing on corporate efforts, this study innovatively constructs a carbon cost leadership strategy (CCLS) index for Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2024 using a text-based machine learning approach. Drawing on institutional theory, we examine the relationship between CPU and firms' adoption of CCLS. Our findings indicate that CPU significantly inhibits the implementation of CCLS, primarily because CPU increases firms' operational risks and undermines firms' capacity to respond to climate regulations. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that this negative effect is more pronounced for state-owned enterprises, firms with low climate risk perception, those in low carbon-exposure and non-technology-intensive industries, and firms located in regions with weak public–government climate engagement. This study enriches the understanding of the social impacts of climate policy from the perspective of corporate carbon cost management and provides new insights for emerging economies to improve their social cost of carbon assessment systems and enhance firms' climate response capabilities.
{"title":"Assessing the effect of climate policy uncertainty on corporate carbon cost leadership strategy: Evidence from China","authors":"Zhongzhu Chu , Weijie Tan , Boru Ren , Zhiyi Xia","doi":"10.1016/j.eneco.2025.109118","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eneco.2025.109118","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Frequent extreme climate events have heightened climate policy uncertainty (CPU) and incorporating the social cost of carbon has become a key element for countries seeking to improve their institutions in response to climate risks. Focusing on corporate efforts, this study innovatively constructs a carbon cost leadership strategy (CCLS) index for Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2024 using a text-based machine learning approach. Drawing on institutional theory, we examine the relationship between CPU and firms' adoption of CCLS. Our findings indicate that CPU significantly inhibits the implementation of CCLS, primarily because CPU increases firms' operational risks and undermines firms' capacity to respond to climate regulations. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that this negative effect is more pronounced for state-owned enterprises, firms with low climate risk perception, those in low carbon-exposure and non-technology-intensive industries, and firms located in regions with weak public–government climate engagement. This study enriches the understanding of the social impacts of climate policy from the perspective of corporate carbon cost management and provides new insights for emerging economies to improve their social cost of carbon assessment systems and enhance firms' climate response capabilities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11665,"journal":{"name":"Energy Economics","volume":"154 ","pages":"Article 109118"},"PeriodicalIF":14.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145939743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-04DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109133
Atanu Manna , Debarun Chakraborty , Nicholas Apergis
The study extends knowledge on the determinants of user app ratings using energy service applications, namely IndianOil ONE and Hello BPCL. Therefore, applying the Expectation Disconfirmation Theory and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, it explores how user-related variables, such as trusting expectations in the technology, intended performance, disconfirmation, and intention, as well as diffusion factors, such as relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability can predict user satisfaction and rating. We applied machine learning to topic modelling and extract the topics from the Google reviews. After retrieving the topics, regression and fsQCA analyses are performed to arrive at the final findings. The results document that the app's perceived reliability, along with expectations from using it and already established behavior patterns, should be unified to retain and improve users' positive mental representation of the application. The final suggestions focus on the advantages the application should demonstrate to users, the key requirements of a properly functioning application, and simple interface navigation to gain users' trust and expectations. This provides guidelines to relevant app developers and concerned stakeholders regarding the design and interface of those apps. However, it provides further insights into energy users regarding enhancing services in the core sector.
{"title":"User-centric design for energy service apps: Integrating expectations disconfirmation and innovation theories","authors":"Atanu Manna , Debarun Chakraborty , Nicholas Apergis","doi":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109133","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eneco.2026.109133","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study extends knowledge on the determinants of user app ratings using energy service applications, namely IndianOil ONE and Hello BPCL. Therefore, applying the Expectation Disconfirmation Theory and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, it explores how user-related variables, such as trusting expectations in the technology, intended performance, disconfirmation, and intention, as well as diffusion factors, such as relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability can predict user satisfaction and rating. We applied machine learning to topic modelling and extract the topics from the Google reviews. After retrieving the topics, regression and fsQCA analyses are performed to arrive at the final findings. The results document that the app's perceived reliability, along with expectations from using it and already established behavior patterns, should be unified to retain and improve users' positive mental representation of the application. The final suggestions focus on the advantages the application should demonstrate to users, the key requirements of a properly functioning application, and simple interface navigation to gain users' trust and expectations. This provides guidelines to relevant app developers and concerned stakeholders regarding the design and interface of those apps. However, it provides further insights into energy users regarding enhancing services in the core sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11665,"journal":{"name":"Energy Economics","volume":"154 ","pages":"Article 109133"},"PeriodicalIF":14.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145893916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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