How can governments stimulate energy-efficiency improvement? This book analyzes environmental policy in the Netherlands to present a wealth of empirical results on the successes and failures of governmental initiatives in environmental policy. Discussion extends to such topics as free-rider effects of subsidies, the credibility of voluntary agreements, the art of regulation and the fate of research & development money.

1. Introduction. 2. A Framework for Analysing the Adoption of Energy-Efficient Technologies. 3. Subsidising the Adoption of Energy-Efficient Technologies: An empirical analysis of the free-rider effect. 4. Energy-Efficiency Standards. 5. Negotiated Agreements. 6. Government Intervention Strategies in Stimulating the R&D of Energy-Efficient Technologies. 7. Instrument Choice and Energy-Efficiency Improvement by Firms: An empirical analysis. 8. Policy Instruments for Technology Adoption: A model for analysing the Diffusion of Energy-Efficient Technologies. 9. Conclusions. References. Appendix I. Appendix II. Index.