Ex post evaluation of voluntary environmental policies on the energy intensity in Chilean firms

This study analyzes the impact of two voluntary environmental policies (carbon footprint and energy efficiency) on the intensity of energy expenditure in Chilean firms between 2015 and 2017. Both policies could be considered successful in environmental terms if they reduce the energy or induce a substitution from fossil fuels to electricity. The analysis is carried out with two methods, matching with differences-in-differences (assuming exogenous treatment) and instrumental variables (assuming endogenous treatment), using a panel database built from the Longitudinal Survey of Firms. The results show that the carbon footprint policy does not affect the intensity of fuel expenditure or electricity expenditure. On the other hand, the energy efficiency policy increases the intensity of electricity expenditure. Thus, it is concluded that both policies are not effective in reducing the energy intensity at the firm level. The above could be attributed to a weak implementation, monitoring, and/or commitment of these voluntary environmental policies in many Chilean firms.

Automated summary

This study analyzes the impact of voluntary environmental policies on the intensity of energy expenditure in Chilean firms. The results show that both the carbon footprint and energy efficiency policies are not effective in reducing energy intensity, possibly due to implementation and commitment issues in the firms.