Are Consumers Poorly Informed about Fuel Economy? Evidence from Two Experiments

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Allcott, Hunt; Knittel, Christopher
• 署名单位: New York University; National Bureau of Economic Research; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20170019
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 1-37
• 关键词: efficiency standards; plan choice; INFORMATION; gasoline; POLICY; price; externalities; disclosure; frictions; BEHAVIOR

摘要

It is often asserted that consumers are poorly informed about and inattentive to fuel economy, causing them to buy low-fuel economy vehicles despite their own best interest. This paper presents evidence on this assertion through two experiments providing fuel economy information to new vehicle shoppers. Results show zero statistical or economic effect on average fuel economy of vehicles purchased. In the context of a simple optimal policy model, the estimates suggest that current and proposed US fuel economy standards are significantly more stringent than needed to address the classes of imperfect information and inattention addressed by our interventions.