Dissertation
EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2015
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/5488
Abstract
This dissertation consists of three independent papers on sustainable energy. The first paper proposes a reward system to promote residential recycling. The proposed mechanism complements existing recycling systems after considering the effects of different incentives examined in the literature. The second paper analyzes if hypothetical bias varies by the nature of the testing commodity. A theoretical model is provided to demonstrate the underlying causes of hypothetical bias. The results also help to explain experimental regularities, such as that hypothetical bias increases in a commodity's income elasticity of demand, and that the hypothetical bias for public goods is larger than for private goods. The third paper investigates the consumer responses toward fuel from second-generation, nature-inspired lignocellulose processing systems. The results suggest that the average respondent is willing to pay an 11% premium for second-generation nature-inspired bioethanol compared to conventional fuel. Driving distance is found to have a negative effect on consumer willingness to pay. Consumers who purchase more organic foods are more willing to pay a premium for the product. The effect of information regarding the second-generation, nature-inspired lignocellulose process is found to be significantly positive.
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Details
- Title
- EXPERIMENTAL ECONOMICS AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
- Creators
- Tongzhe Li
- Contributors
- Jill J. McCluskey (Advisor)Ana Espinola-Arredondo (Committee Member)Ron C. Mittelhammer (Committee Member)Felix Munoz-Garcia (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Economic Sciences, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 103
- Identifiers
- 99900581530401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation