Data‐based policymaking. Applications to energy and tourism policies

Abstract

This thesis explores how policy makers can take advantage of data to improve the policy design process. It does so by considering two separate case studies applied to two topics, energy consumption and tourism, which entail relevant policy questions and which have important implications for sustainability. Each case study delves into a distinct phase of the policy design process. The first study (covered in Chapters 1 and 2) delves into consumer behaviour within the energy sector and performs an ex‐post evaluation of a significant collective switching initiative implemented in the UK in 2012. This initiative aimed to encourage consumers to switch to more affordable energy tariffs. As an ex‐post analysis, policy makers play a passive role as they serve as final recipients of the policy evaluation exercise. However, they can utilize this knowledge to promote similar initiatives based on the success of the original one or incorporate changes to improve the policy design. The second study, covered in Chapter 3, grants an active role to policy makers in the development of easily understandable knowledge products for their use. This chapter effectively captures the communication dilemmas surrounding the choice between a dashboard or a composite index, or even both, as means of conveying information. Collective switching mechanisms are a tool that has garnered extensive utilization not only in the United Kingdom but also in other nations, aiming to encourage consumers to switch their energy providers, thereby intensifying competitive pressure in the energy market. The ultimate goal is to leverage this increased competition as a mechanism to drive down prices. From the demand side and from a policy point of view, the evaluation of the effectiveness of these mechanisms is a key issue if one is to recommend their use as a means to make consumers get cheaper energy deals, as high energy prices are one important factor in any definition of fuel poverty.