Does Subsidizing Green Equipment Make Firms Greener? (with Laurent Bach, Paul Dutronc-Postel, and Arthur Guillouzouic)
We study the decision of manufacturing firms to invest in carbon-abating equipment. We do so by leveraging a one-billion-euro investment subsidy program aimed at fostering biomass-based energy adoption in the French manufacturing sector. Using rich data on eleven cohorts of subsidized projects, we show that subsidies cause green investment to increase, fossil fuel consumption to decrease and biomass consumption to increase. Conventional yearly plant-level CO2 emissions decrease by 21%, while activity remains unchanged. Many selected projects are eventually abandoned, which can partly be explained by energy price shocks and financial fragility. We assess the implied cost per ton of CO2 avoided, highlighting the role of interactions with emissions trading and alternative biomass carbon accounting assumptions.
How Does Corporate Real Estate Respond to Long-Term Energy Efficiency Targets? (with Olivier Denagiscarde)
Can Boosting Corporate Investments Benefit the Environment? Evidence from France.