TY - JOUR
T1 - Are consumers poorly informed about fuel economy? Evidence from two experiments
AU - Allcott, Hunt
AU - Knittel, Christopher
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Economic Association.
PY - 2019/2/1
Y1 - 2019/2/1
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
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U2 - 10.1257/pol.20170019
DO - 10.1257/pol.20170019
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85061912680
SN - 1945-7731
VL - 11
SP - 1
EP - 37
JO - American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
JF - American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
IS - 1
ER -