Renewable energy and willingness to pay : evidences from a meta-analysis

In the present paper, the relevant literature in the field of willingness to pay (WTP) for green electricity has been reviewed and collected. It was attempted to provide an overview of the research carried out so far and possible future areas of investigation. Globally, 34 papers, containing 151 observations, were gathered and included in a meta-regression. The econometric analysis was conducted with the aid of weighted least square models. The main objective of the proposed work is to understand the effects of some country-level variables on the stated willingness to pay for renewable energy, as well as, survey specific variables. In particular, it was found that the present level of CO2 emissions, the share of renewables and the specification of the energy source in the scenario are positively related to the stated. The actual level of energy consumption, conversely, has a negative effect on WTP. Interestingly, producing nuclear energy contributes to lower the stated WTP for renewables.

In terms of WTP, on average people are willing to contribute to RE with 13.29 USD per month. The use of biomass for energy has a lower stated WTP, of 11.02 USD. WTP for wind and solar were assessed to be very similar, of about 14.14.66 USD and 14.40 USD, respectively. Eventually, WTP for hydropower and geothermal energy was of 9.57 USD and 36.90 USD. The present study also suggests that more research would be helpful in the renewable energy field, in particular in developing countries. [Publishers' text].