Stated preferences towards renewable energy alternatives in Germany – do the consequentiality of the survey and trust in institutions matter?

ABSTRACT

This research concerns the effect of consequentiality and trust in institutions on willingness to pay estimates towards the expansion of renewable energy in Germany. We use four information treatments which differ in terms of the information participants received prior to a discrete choice experiment. Treatments differ with respect to a consequentiality device and the institution which would be responsible for providing the good under evaluation. After finishing the choice tasks, respondents stated their perceived consequentiality and trust in institutions. We find perceived policy consequentiality to be strongly associated with the trust individuals have in both providing institutions. Moreover, compared to the treatments which did not highlight the consequences of the survey, participants are more inclined to perceive their responses to be at least somewhat consequential when the consequentiality device was presented. However, willingness to pay estimates do neither differ across treatments nor by the level of perceived consequentiality. We speculate that as the expansion of renewable energy is strongly debated with the public having a wide range of beliefs and political views, the requirements for consequential choices are not met.

KEYWORDS:

• Consequentiality
• discrete choice experiment
• trust in institutions
• externalities of renewable energies

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank two anonymous reviewers as well as Geesche M. Dobers for valuable comments and Julian Sagebiel for helping us conducting the Poe-test. Funding for this research was provided by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany and is gratefully acknowledged (Project: Efficient and fair allocation of renewable energy production at the national level, Fkz.01LA1110A).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany [grant number Fkz.01LA1110A].