PrefaceI
List of TablesIX
List of FiguresⅪ
Chapter 1 Introduction1
Chapter 2 Policy Introduction: the California Solar Initiative7
1)The Joint Staff Report8
2)Megawatt-Triggering Mechanism10
3)Incentive Application Process13
Chapter 3 Optimal Subsidy Design with Stochastic Learning: A Dynamic Programming Evaluation of the California Solar Initiative17
1)Introduction17
2)The California Solar Initiative: Policy in Retrospect21
(1)CSI Target and Budget Setting21
(2)Megawatt-Triggering Mechanism22
(3)CSI Performance23
3)Modeling and Parameterization25
(1)Model Setup25
(2)Parameterization28
4)Results39
(1)Analytic Results39
(2)Deterministic Case41
(3)Stochastic Case51
5)Conclusions57
Chapter 4 Incentive Pass-through for Residential Solar Systems in California60
1)Introduction60
2)Literature Review63
3)Methods and Data67
(1)Structural Modeling68
(2)Reduced-form Regression73
(3)Data74
4)Results81
(1)Structural Modeling81
(2)Reduced-form Approach87
5)Conclusions91
Chapter 5 Analyzing Incentive Pass-through for the California Solar Initiative:A Regression Discontinuity Design95
1)Introduction95
2)CSI Policy Design and Suitability for RD Analysis98
3)Methods and Data100
(1)Methods100
(2)Data104
4)Results112
(1)Time Discontinuity112
(2)Geographic Discontinuity122
5)Conclusions127
Chapter 6 Conclusion130
Appendix134
Bibliography137