Changes in consumer behavior as a result of the Home Appliance Eco-Point System: an analysis based on micro data from the Family Income and Expenditure Survey

The Home Appliance Eco-Point System refers to the project executed by the Japanese government from May 2009 to March 2011. The system, while showing signs of slowing down in the latter half of the implementation period, has, to a certain extent, facilitated a demand-promoting effect. Those effects are relatively large, particularly in regions outside the greater national capital district and in households with senior citizens. It can be attributed to the Eco-Point system that “electrical appliances became widespread in those households that had rarely made an effort to save on energy consumption”. Moreover, it can be inferred that the Eco-Point system enhanced the relative utility levels for refrigerators in households in major cities, and for air conditioners and televisions in households with elderly members in small cities. Thus, when implementing environmental policy, we believe that the policy effects can be made more impactful by reasonably determining the household types to target for each good, by setting the subsidy rates according to the differences in the targeted households, and by considering the desirable method of the information provision policy.