Data for: Free-riding on tax credits for home insulation in France: An econometric assessment using panel data

Abstract of associated article: This econometric study assesses the efficiency of the income tax credit system introduced in France in 2005 on investment decisions for household retrofits, focusing on insulation measures. A logit model with random individual effects is estimated using an unbalanced panel of 23,879 households surveyed over the period 2002–2011. An estimation in difference is performed to identify the impact of the policy. The tax credit is found to have had no significant effect during the first two years, suggesting a latency period related to inertia in households' investment decisions, possibly due to the complexity of the tax credit scheme. The tax credit had an increasing, significant positive effect from 2007 to 2010, before slightly decreasing in 2011. This is in line with changes in the tax credit rates, suggesting a correlation with the level of subsidy. Defined as the situation in which the subsidized household would have invested even in the absence of the subsidy, free-ridership progressively decreased over the period, was lower for insulation of opaque surfaces (roofs, walls, etc.) than for insulation of windows and depended on individual characteristics. The estimated average proportion of free-riders varies between 40% and 85% after 2006. In addition, we assess the potential bias caused by time-varying unobservable variables and conclude that our estimates of the impacts of the policy are conservative.

关联论文摘要：本计量经济学研究评估了法国2005年推出的所得税减免制度对家庭翻新改造投资决策的影响，重点聚焦于隔热改造措施。本研究基于2002年至2011年追踪调查的23879户家庭非平衡面板（unbalanced panel）数据，对引入随机个体效应的Logit（logit model）模型进行估计，并通过差分估计法识别该项政策的作用效果。研究发现，该所得税减免政策在实施首两年未产生显著影响，这表明家庭投资决策存在与行为惰性相关的滞后期，该现象可能源于减免制度本身的复杂性。2007年至2010年间，该减免政策的正向影响逐渐增强且统计显著，2011年则小幅回落。这一趋势与所得税减免税率的调整轨迹相契合，表明政策效果与补贴力度存在相关性。搭便车现象被定义为：受补贴家庭即便无补贴也会进行翻新投资的情形。研究期内，搭便车现象逐渐减少；针对不透明表面（屋顶、墙体等）的隔热改造，其搭便车率低于窗户隔热改造，且该现象受个体特征影响。2006年后，估计得到的搭便车者平均占比在40%至85%之间波动。此外，本研究评估了时变不可观测变量可能引发的估计偏误，最终得出结论：本研究对政策影响的估计属于保守估计。