Marie Gauthier, Maître de conférences, Bordeaux Sciences Economiques

Le séminaire du jeudi 15 mai 2025 est animé par Marie Gauthier, Maître de conférences à Bordeaux Sciences Economiques.


Titre de la présentation : The Value of Energy Efficiency Grades: Evidence from a Natural Experiment, article co-écrit avec Jamal Bouoiyour.

Résumé : This paper examines how simplified energy efficiency labels influence housing market outcomes. In France, residential properties are required to display an energy performance label that maps predicted energy consumption into a color-coded letter grade (A–G). In July 2021, a regulatory reform shifted the thresholds used to assign these grades, generating arbitrary reclassifications of homes without any change in their underlying energy scores. We exploit this natural experiment using a difference-in-differences design applied to 1.5 million housing transactions between 2013 and 2024. We find that a one-letter upgrade leads to a 3.4% increase in sale prices, with larger effects for energy-inefficient homes. Dynamic estimates reveal that these effects grow over time, particularly when letter upgrades coincide with changes in label color—suggesting that design elements act as behavioral nudges. We also document strategic seller responses, including bunching just above grade cutoffs. These findings demonstrate that simplified labels can meaningfully affect asset pricing in high-stakes markets, highlighting the role of limited attention and label salience in shaping economic behavior.

Le séminaire a lieu à 13h30 en salle 227.