This research investigates factors driving citizen participation in renewable energy communities (RECs) using demographically representative surveys including a discrete choice experiment on attributes of RECs and a contingent valuation experiment on intended amounts of investment in RECs in France, Germany, and Poland. We investigate, in particular, whether municipalities can incentivize citizens to invest in RECs by offering to match their investments and examine the effect of small probabilities of losing the entire investment. Further, we analyze the role of preferences, capabilities, and social factors that have not or only scarcely been studied in the context of RECs. Our results provide evidence that matching by the municipality has a positive effect on citizen investment. Further, ruling out even small risks of losing the entire investment may substantially increase citizen participation in RECs. The experiments suggest that investments in RECs are related to willingness to take risks and willingness to take losses. Individual capabilities (i.e. financial literacy, experience), social norms, place identity, and trust in local government also seem to spur citizen investment in RECs.

本研究使用具有人口代表性的调查调查推动公民参与可再生能源社区 (REC) 的因素，包括对 REC 属性的离散选择实验和对法国、德国和波兰的 REC 预期投资额的条件估值实验。我们特别调查市政当局是否可以通过提供匹配他们的投资来激励公民投资 REC，并检查失去全部投资的小概率的影响。此外，我们分析了在 REC 的背景下尚未或几乎没有研究的偏好、能力和社会因素的作用。我们的结果提供的证据表明，市政当局的匹配对公民投资有积极影响。更远，即使排除失去全部投资的小风险，也可能会大大提高公民对 REC 的参与度。实验表明，对 REC 的投资与承担风险和承担损失的意愿有关。个人能力（即金融知识、经验）、社会规范、地方身份和对地方政府的信任似乎也刺激了公民对 REC 的投资。