Heterogeneity in the Rebound Effect: Evidence from Efficient Lighting Subsidies

Abstract

This paper quantifies heterogeneity in rebound effects from policy-induced energy efficiency improvements by income and home size. We do so in a relatively understudied context: residential lighting. This context allows us to separately estimate effects for energy services (lighting hours) and electricity consumption. We identify the effect of household-level subsidy uptake using instrumental variables for program awareness. We find that rebound effects are larger for low-income households and those in smaller homes. We also show that the rebound effect is not large enough to “backfire” and all income and home-size subsamples exhibit net energy savings.