---
_id: '56494'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: "Many industrialized countries have recognized the need to mitigate energy
    cost increases faced by low-income households by fostering the adoption of energy-efficient
    technologies. How to meet this need is an open question, but “behavioral insights”
    are likely components of future policy designs. Applying well-established behavioral
    insights to low-income house- holds raises questions of transportability as they
    are typically underrepresented in the existing evidence base. We illustrate this
    problem by conducting a randomized field experiment on scalable, low-cost design
    elements to improve program take-up in one of the world’s largest en- ergy efficiency
    assistance programs. Observing investment decisions of over 1,800 low-income households
    in Germany’s “Refrigerator Replacement Program”, we find that the transportabil-
    ity problem is real and consequential: First, the most effective policy design
    would not have been chosen based on existing behavioral insights. Second, design
    elements favored by these insights either prove ineffective or even backfire,
    violating ‘do no harm’ principles of policy advice. Systematic testing remains
    crucial for addressing the transportability problem, partic- ularly for policies
    targeting vulnerable groups.\r\n"
author:
- first_name: Martin
  full_name: Kesternich, Martin
  id: '98922'
  last_name: Kesternich
  orcid: 0000-0002-0653-7680
- first_name: Bettina
  full_name: Chlond , Bettina
  last_name: 'Chlond '
- first_name: 'Timo '
  full_name: 'Goeschl, Timo '
  last_name: Goeschl
- first_name: Madeline
  full_name: Werthschulte, Madeline
  last_name: Werthschulte
citation:
  ama: 'Kesternich M, Chlond  B, Goeschl T, Werthschulte M. <i>Transporting Behavioral
    Insights to Low-Income Households: A Field Experiment on Energy Efficiency Investments</i>.  AWI
    Discussion Paper Series No. 755; 2024.'
  apa: 'Kesternich, M., Chlond , B., Goeschl, T., &#38; Werthschulte, M. (2024). <i>Transporting
    behavioral insights to low-income households: A field experiment on energy efficiency
    investments</i>.  AWI Discussion Paper Series No. 755.'
  bibtex: '@book{Kesternich_Chlond _Goeschl_Werthschulte_2024, title={Transporting
    behavioral insights to low-income households: A field experiment on energy efficiency
    investments}, publisher={ AWI Discussion Paper Series No. 755}, author={Kesternich,
    Martin and Chlond , Bettina and Goeschl, Timo  and Werthschulte, Madeline}, year={2024}
    }'
  chicago: 'Kesternich, Martin, Bettina Chlond , Timo  Goeschl, and Madeline Werthschulte.
    <i>Transporting Behavioral Insights to Low-Income Households: A Field Experiment
    on Energy Efficiency Investments</i>.  AWI Discussion Paper Series No. 755, 2024.'
  ieee: 'M. Kesternich, B. Chlond , T. Goeschl, and M. Werthschulte, <i>Transporting
    behavioral insights to low-income households: A field experiment on energy efficiency
    investments</i>.  AWI Discussion Paper Series No. 755, 2024.'
  mla: 'Kesternich, Martin, et al. <i>Transporting Behavioral Insights to Low-Income
    Households: A Field Experiment on Energy Efficiency Investments</i>.  AWI Discussion
    Paper Series No. 755, 2024.'
  short: 'M. Kesternich, B. Chlond , T. Goeschl, M. Werthschulte, Transporting Behavioral
    Insights to Low-Income Households: A Field Experiment on Energy Efficiency Investments,  AWI
    Discussion Paper Series No. 755, 2024.'
date_created: 2024-10-10T12:25:31Z
date_updated: 2024-10-11T09:04:17Z
ddc:
- '330'
file:
- access_level: open_access
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: mkestern
  date_created: 2024-10-10T12:25:25Z
  date_updated: 2024-10-10T12:25:25Z
  file_id: '56495'
  file_name: 755,_october_2024.pdf
  file_size: 3239473
  relation: main_file
file_date_updated: 2024-10-10T12:25:25Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
jel:
- C93
- D91
- Q49
keyword:
- Transportability
- low-income households
- field experiment
- randomized controlled trial
- governmental welfare programs
- energy efficiency
- technology adoption
language:
- iso: eng
oa: '1'
publisher: ' AWI Discussion Paper Series No. 755'
status: public
title: 'Transporting behavioral insights to low-income households: A field experiment
  on energy efficiency investments'
type: working_paper
user_id: '98922'
year: '2024'
...