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- Crawley, E. F., et al.
(author)
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Curriculum design based on the CDIO model
- 2005
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In: SEFI 2005 Annual Conference. - : Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Engineering. - 9789754292367 ; , s. 184-191
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Implement-Operate (CDIO) engineering educational strategy has been adopted by a number of universities as a framework for reforming engineering programs. One of the key activities in CDIO adoption and implementation is designing the engineering curriculum to integrate personal, interpersonal and system-building learning outcomes into the curriculum. This paper details approaches and experiences from curriculum design efforts at MIT, KTH, and Chalmers.
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| 4. |
- Ek, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Active and passive electricity consumers on the deregulated Swedish electricity market
- 2007
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In: 9:th IAEE European Energy Conference. - : Italian Association of Energy Economics.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The electricity price paid by Swedish consumers has increased significantly during the last years. The increasing electricity costs have been frequently debated in the media and the most common explanation – although probably too simplistic – is weak market performance. Since 1996 when the Swedish electricity market was deregulated the consumers can actively choose between different electricity producers and/or renegotiate the contract with the prevailing supplier; the impact of consumer behavior on the functioning of the market (i.e., on electricity prices) has thus increased. Still, the general understanding as expressed by policy makers is that the average Swedish household is not very active in terms of changing supplier and/or renegotiating contract. There are policies aimed at promoting electricity consumers to become more active that are potentially cost effective. To be able to design such policies is it however important to know more about how the more active consumers differs from the less active ones. Some consumers may, for instance, perceive barriers in the form of high non monetary costs in terms of lack of information and/or high searching costs while others may become active at relatively low costs. The purpose of this paper is to identify the main factors that promotes and prevents increased activity among Swedish electricity consumers; more specifically we study the factors that govern the decision to change supplier and/or renegotiating prevailing contracts. The econometric analysis is carried out in a binary choice framework. Results are based on a postal survey that was sent out to 1200 randomly selected Swedish households in late 2005, the response rate was 47 percent. The questionnaire collected information about the self-reported behavior on the electricity market, attitudes towards and confidence in the actors of the market, about the perceived functioning of the market, prevailing contract type, perceived costs associated with a more active behavior, electricity consumption levels and costs. In the theoretical model we draw on previous research and claim that the consumer decision whether to change supplier and/or renegotiate contract or not is governed by three different effects: (a) “status quo effects”, factors that motivates the consumer to change supplier/contract; (b) so called “push effects”; and (c) so called “pull effects”, factors that motivates the consumer to stick to the present supplier/contract. The presence off “status quo effects” is heavily influenced by research on individual choices in both psychology and economics and according to central results in this research most of the individuals are not able to – and do not want to – continuously evaluate their consumption decisions. Results show that those who state that they find it difficult to affect the size of their electricity costs and to evaluate the different offers from different suppliers are less likely to be active on the electricity market. We also note - as would be expected – that households with relatively high electricity costs have on average been more inclined to be active on the market. The results imply that measures aimed at facilitating the comparison of the offers from different electric power suppliers may be productive so as to increase the degree of activity among Swedish electricity consumers.
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- Ek, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Green electricity consumption in Swedish households : the role of norm-motivated consumer behavior
- 2006
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The main purpose of this paper is to provide an econometric analysis of the most important determinants of Swedish households' (self-reported) willingness to accept a price premium for "green" electricity. Methodologically, we draw heavily on recent developments in the literature on integrating norm-motivated behavior into neoclassical consumer theory, and assume that individuals have a preference for keeping a self-image as a responsible person. Consumer behavior in the "green market place" will then be heavily determined by how purchases of different goods affect this self-image. The analysis is based on postal survey responses from 655 Swedish households in four different municipalities, which are analyzed within a binary choice econometric framework. The results indicate that the impact of choosing "green" on the household budget largely influences the willingness to contribute to "green" electricity schemes, as do the degree of perceived personal responsibility for the issue and the felt ability to affect the outcome in a positive way. We find only limited support for the idea that perception about others' behavior affect individual moral norms and ultimately behavior: stronger support is rather found for the hypothesis that the presence of a prescriptive social norm influences the willingness to pay for "green" electricity. The difficulty in observing others' purchases makes it however particularly difficult to distinguish between social and moral norms in the case of "green" electricity.
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| 7. |
- Ek, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Households' switching behavior between electricity suppliers in Sweden
- 2008
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In: Utilities Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0957-1787 .- 1878-4356. ; 16:4, s. 254-261
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The overall purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors affecting households' decisions to: (a) switch to a new electricity supplier; and (b) actively renegotiate the electricity contract with the prevailing supplier. The study is based on 536 survey responses from Swedish households and they are analyzed econometrically using probit regression techniques. The analysis is based on a theoretical framework, which embraces both economic and psychological motives behind household decision-making. The results show that households that anticipate significant economic benefits from choosing a more active behavior are also more likely to purse this, while those with smaller potential gains (e.g., households without electric heating) are less likely to change supplier and/or renegotiate their contracts. The impact of overall electricity costs and knowledge about these is particularly important for the latter decision, while respondents that perceive relatively high search and information costs are less likely to switch to an alternative electricity supplier. Moreover, constraints on time, attention, and the ability to process information, may lead to optimizing analyses being replaced by imprecise routines and rules of thumb, and the benefits of the status quo appear to represent one of those simplifying rules. This also opens up for other influences on households' activity such as social interaction and media discourses that raise the attention level. Our results show that these influences are more likely to affect households' choice to switch to new service providers, i.e., the one area of the two investigated here that put the most demand on people's ability to search for and process information.
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| 8. |
- Ek, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Norms and economic motivation in the Swedish green electricity market
- 2008
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In: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009 .- 1873-6106. ; 68:1-2, s. 169-182
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The purpose of this paper is to provide an econometric analysis of the most important determinants of Swedish households' choice to pay a price premium for "green" electricity. We draw on recent developments in the literature on integrating norm-motivated behavior into neoclassical consumer theory, and assume that individuals have a preference for keeping a self-image as a morally responsible person. Consumer behavior in the "green market place" will then be heavily determined by how purchases of different goods affect this self-image. The analysis is based on postal survey responses from 655 Swedish households, which are analyzed within a binary choice econometric framework. The results indicate that the impact of choosing "green" on the household budget largely influences the choice between "green" and "brown" electricity, as does the degree of perceived personal responsibility for the issue and the felt ability to affect the outcome in a positive way. We find limited support for the notion that perceptions about others' behavior in general affect individual moral norms and ultimately expressed behavior, but this is also complemented by the influence of explicit social influence. The difficulty in observing others' purchases makes it however difficult to distinguish between social and moral norms in the case of "green" electricity.
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| 9. |
- Ek, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Public support for renewable electricity : the importance of policy framing
- 2008
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In: Ecological economics research trends. - New York : Nova Science Publishers, Inc.. - 1600219411 - 9781600219412 ; , s. 83-104
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Individuals' contribution to electricity generation based on remewable energy sources can be channelled in two ways. The "green" market approach relies on an 'unconditional' contribution to renewable power while the certificate scheme represents a corresponding 'conditional' support (i.e., I can only contribute if the scheme is at place, and if so many others will also contribute). In both systems the support to renewable power is made possible through a price premium paid for these types of energy sources. In this chapter we draw on the economics literature on individual contributions to public goods and empirically test the overall hypothesis that the framing of renewable power support in a 'conditional' and an 'unconditional' scenario, respectively will tend to trigger different types of moral deliberations. In thr former case the delibarations concern mainly the division of efforts between individuals, while the delibarations in the latter case relate more to the characteristics of the public good in question and the perceived personal responsibility and ability to contribute to this good. This implies also that the variables determining the willingness to accept price premiums for renewable power may differ across schemes considered. We analyze the response to dichotomous willingness to pay (WTP) questions from two different versions of a postal survey sent out to 1200 Swedish house owners. A random effects binary logit model is applied, and the estimated marginal effects support the notion that different types of factors tend to dominate choices depending on the support scheme considered. From these results follow a number of important implications for measures undertaken to increase the public's valuation of renewable power as well as the legitimacy of measure to increase renewable power production.
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| 10. |
- Ek, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Technology diffusion and innovation in the European wind power sector : the impact of energy and R&D policies
- 2008
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In: International Energy Workshop 2008.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The purpose of this paper is to provide an econometric analysis of innovation and diffusion in the European wind power sector. We derive models of wind power innovation and diffusion, which combine a rational choice model of technological diffusion and a learning curve model of cost reductions. The learning model attempts to account for the presence of both domestic learning-by-doing as well as international knowledge spillovers (global learning), and test the extent to which the respective learning-by-doing rates differ. The models are estimated using pooled annual time series data for five European countries (Denmark, Germany, Spain, Swe-den and the United Kingdom) over the time period 1986-2001. The empirical results indicate that reductions in investment costs are an important determinant of increased diffusion of wind power, and these cost reductions are in turn explained by both domestic and global learning-by-doing but less so by knowledge accumulating as a result of public R&D support. Feed-in tariffs also play a role in the innovation and diffusion processes. The higher is the feed-in price the higher is, ceteris paribus, the rate of diffusion, and we also test the hypothesis that the impact on diffusion of a marginal increase in the feed-in tariff will differ depending on the support system used. The results support the notion that the UK competitive bidding system was (ceteris paribus) less effective in inducing wind power diffusion compared to the other countries' fixed tariff support schemes. Overall the estimates generated by the learning models are sensitive to the way in which learning-by-doing impacts are included, and the results indicate that the global learning-by-doing rate is significantly higher than the domestic rate. The analysis also indicates that empirically it is difficult to separate the impacts of R&D and learning-by-doing on cost reductions, respectively.
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