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Yongjoon Park, assistant professor in the Department of Resource Economics, has been awarded a nearly $100,000 grant from Resources For the Future to examine the effectiveness of electric vehicle (EV) policies under the Inflation Reduction Act.

The two-year project, conducted in collaboration with researchers from Clemson University and the University of Maryland, will assess whether the dual goals of the law’s EV policies—promoting domestic vehicle and battery production, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—are complementary or in conflict. The project will also evaluate the efficiency of the two policies and how they interact.

“A key component of this analysis is understanding how consumers substitute between vehicles in response to price changes (e.g. EV subsidy),” Park explains. “To this end, we estimate a demand and supply model that flexibly represents the U.S. auto industry and simulates consumer and producer welfare under both current and hypothetical EV policy scenarios.”

The research team will prepare at least one paper for submission to a peer-reviewed journal and participate in workshops to share their results with other grantees, academics and policymakers.

“It’s in everyone’s best interest that we have the data to understand whether and how these policies change communities, public health and the environment,” notes Carlos Martín, RFF’s vice president for research and policy engagement. “RFF is proud to fund these researchers and their important work.”

RFF is an independent, nonprofit research institution based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to improve environmental, energy and natural resource decisions through impartial economic research and policy engagement.