Impact of Beliefs about Negative Effects of Wind Turbines on Preference Heterogeneity Regarding Renewable Energy Development in Poland

The authors investigate individuals’ preferences for renewable energy development in Poland. Their main objective is to examine whether preferences for avoiding externalities from renewable energy development near respondents’ place of residence are influenced by their personal beliefs about the negative effects of wind turbine activity. They focus on attitudes towards wind power because it has had the most dynamic development among all renewable energy sources in Poland. To elicit values on avoiding renewable energy externalities, they use a choice experiment (CE) method. To conduct their analysis we apply a theoretically robust econometric approach, the hybrid mixed logit model. From our analysis of data from a large sample of the Polish population, they find that beliefs about wind turbines have distinct effects on respondents’ preferences concerning renewable energy development. Respondents who generally have an opinion about potential wind turbine effects, regardless of whether they believe or deny that such effects exist, would like to have input on renewable energy development in their neighbourhood. Latent beliefs that wind power is not harmful enhance respondents’ preferences for implementing wind energy projects and enhance preferences against solar power development. These intrinsic beliefs also appear to be significantly correlated with respondents’ marginal utility of money.