1st Edition
Environmental Subsidies to Consumers How did they work in the Japanese market?
A typical consumer underestimates the benefits of future energy savings and underinvests in energy efficiency, relative to a description of the socially optimal level of energy efficiency. To alleviate this energy-efficiency gap problem, various programs have been implemented. In recent years, many governments have started providing consumers with subsidies on the purchases of eco-friendly products such as hybrid cars and energy efficient appliances. This book conducts a comprehensive analysis of the environmental subsidy programs conducted in Japan and examines their impacts on consumer product selection, consumer product use, and environmental outcome. The book also proposes recommendations for future environmental and industrial policies.
The book's empirical findings will be of interest to those who are researching on and policymakers of environmental and industrial policies.
Part I: Environmental Subsidies to Consumers: Conceptual issues 1. Environmental Subsidies to Consumers: Introduction, Shigeru Matsumoto 2. Environmental Subsidies to Consumers as Policy Instruments, Shigeru Matsumoto 3. Environmental Tax and Subsidy in Japan: Past and present, Satoshi Sekiguchi Part II: Rebate Program for Energy Efficient Appliances Japanese Electronic Appliance Market, Minoru Morita 4. Effect of an Eco-Point Program on Consumer Digital TV Selection, Keiko Yamaguchi, Shigeru Matsumoto and Tomohiro Tasaki 5. A Policy Evaluation of the Eco-Point Program: The program’s impact on CO2 reductions and the replacement of home appliances, Toshi H. Arimura and Minoru Morita 6. Did the Purchase Subsidy for Energy-Efficient Appliances Ease Electricity Shortage after Fukushima?, Kenichi Mizobuchi and Kenji Takeuchi 7. Effect of the Eco-Point Program on Implicit Discount Rate: A hedonic analysis of eco-point program, Shigeru Matsumoto, Minoru Morita and Tomohiro Tasaki Part III: Rebate Program for Eco-friendly Vehicles Japanese Motor Vehicle Market, Shigeru Matsumoto 8. Cross- Country Policy Comparison: What are the elements of a successful eco-car policy?, Keiko Hirota and Shigeru Kashima 9. CO2 Emission Reductions from Hybrid Vehicle Use: An analysis of Japan’s used car market data, Kazuyuki Iwata and Shigeru Matsumoto Part IV: Environmental Subsidies to Consumers Multiple Points 10. Subsidy for Eco-Friendly Houses: Can it be an ultimate solution?, Kazuyuki Iwata 11. Environmental Subsidies and Life Cycle Assessment, Tomohiro Tasaki Part V: Concluding Part 12. Lessons for Future Environmental and Industrial Policies: Concluding remarks, Shigeru Matsumoto
Biography
Shigeru Matsumoto is Professor at the Department of Economics, Aoyama Gakuin University. He studied on Heiwa Nakajima Foundation Scholarship at North Carolina State University, where he earned his PhD in Economics. His research interest lies in the applied welfare economics, with particular focus on consumer behavior analysis.
