Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/113970 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
Nota di Lavoro No. 65.2015
Publisher: 
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Milano
Abstract: 
This paper aims at improving the application of the learning curve, a popular tool used for forecasting future costs of renewable technologies in integrated assessment models (IAMs). First, we formally discuss under what assumptions the traditional (OLS) estimates of the learning curve can deliver meaningful predictions in IAMs. We argue that the most problematic of them is the absence of any effect of technology cost on its demand (reverse causality). Next, we show that this assumption can be relaxed by modifying the traditional econometric method used to estimate the learning curve. The new estimation approach presented in this paper is robust to the reverse causality problem but preserves the reduced form character of the learning curve. Finally, we provide new estimates of learning curves for wind turbines and PV technologies which are tailored for use in IAMs. Our results suggest that the learning rate should be revised downward for wind power, but possibly upward for solar PV.
Subjects: 
Learning Curve
Renewable Technologies
Integrated Assessment Models
JEL: 
Q42
Q55
C55
C26
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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