Institutions and consumer preferences for renewable energy: A meta-regression analysis

Abstract

Promoting the use of sustainable energy sources is becoming a major policy strategy in several nations to mitigate climate change and improve energy security. The achievement of a policy objective needs information about consumer preferences and attitudes towards renewable energy. This research presents a synthesis of estimates of the consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for electricity generated from renewables. The paper applies meta-regression analysis to 509 observations of WTP from 91 renewable energy studies in 27 countries. The paper also explores the influence of institutions and other important factors on WTP values. The results suggest that institutions, with their country-specific and survey-specific factors, has a great influence on WTP. Consumers in more democratic and capitalistic countries assign higher values for renewable energy. Further, higher GDP per capita countries result in higher WTP estimates, while larger CO2 emitter countries lead to lower WTP for green electricity.