Does Asymmetric Information in Residential Rental Markets Lead to an Energy Efficiency Gap?
Event Details
Presenter
Erica Meyers, University of California, Berkeley
Abstract
This paper explores whether there are energy cost information asymmetries between landlords and tenants. If tenants are uninformed about energy costs, landlords cannot capitalize energy efficiency investments into higher rents, leading to under-investment. I exploit variation in energy costs in the form of relative heating fuel price changes in the northeastern United States where some units heat with oil and some units heat with natural gas. I find that changes in energy costs are capitalized into rents when landlords pay for energy, suggesting landlords are informed about their costs. In contrast, when tenants pay for energy, I cannot reject zero capitalization, which implies tenants lack information. Turnover, owner occupancy rates, and energy efficiency investments are also different between the two payment regimes in ways consistent with asymmetric information.
Date
Thursday, December 12, 2013
12:00 - 1:30 p.m. A light lunch will be provided.
Location
7th Floor Conference Room
1616 P St. NW
Washington, DC 20036 All seminars will be in the 7th Floor Conference Room at RFF, 1616 P Street NW unless otherwise noted. Attendance is open, but involves pre-registration no later than two days prior to the event. For questions and to register to an event, please contact Karen Furman at [email protected]. Updates to our academic seminars schedule will be posted at www.rff.org/academicseminarseries.
