Replication Data for: How Much Do Consumers Value Fuel Economy and Performance? Evidence from Technology Adoption

Paper abstract: During historical periods in which US fuel economy standards were unchanging, automakers increased performance but not fuel economy, contrasting with recent periods of tightening standards and rising fuel economy. This paper evaluates the welfare consequences of automakers forgoing performance increases to raise fuel economy as standards have tightened since 2012. Using a unique data set and a novel approach to account for fuel economy and performance endogeneity, we find undervaluation of fuel cost savings and high valuation of performance. Welfare costs of forgone performance approximately equal expected fuel savings benefits, suggesting approximately zero net private consumer benefit from tightened standards.论文摘要：在美国燃油经济性标准保持不变的历史时期，汽车制造商仅提升车辆动力性能而未改善燃油经济性，这与近期标准收紧、燃油经济性持续提升的阶段形成鲜明对比。本文评估了2012年以来随着燃油经济性标准收紧，汽车制造商为提升燃油经济性而放弃性能提升所带来的福利影响。本研究采用独特数据集与处理燃油经济性和性能内生性（endogeneity）问题的新颖方法，发现消费者对燃油成本节约存在低估，且对车辆性能赋予了较高估值。放弃性能提升所产生的福利成本与预期燃油节约收益大致相当，这表明收紧燃油经济性标准几乎未给消费者带来私人净收益。