IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i9p5557-d809076.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public Research and Development Funding for Renewable Energy Technologies in Europe: A Cross-Country Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Maximilian Gasser

    (Institute for Renewable Energy, European Academy of Bolzano (EURAC Research), Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy)

  • Simon Pezzutto

    (Institute for Renewable Energy, European Academy of Bolzano (EURAC Research), Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy)

  • Wolfram Sparber

    (Institute for Renewable Energy, European Academy of Bolzano (EURAC Research), Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy)

  • Eric Wilczynski

    (Institute for Renewable Energy, European Academy of Bolzano (EURAC Research), Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy)

Abstract

The European Union recognizes the vital role that innovation in renewable energy technologies plays in accelerating the energy transition. In the largest ever transnational research and innovation program, Horizon Europe (2021–2027), the EU allocated 35% of the total budget of €95.5 billion to green technology research. This paper examines public research and development (R&D) funding for renewable energy technologies in 17 European countries from 2000 to 2020 by analyzing its extent, composition, and effectiveness. While large economies lead in the size of total available public R&D support, Nordic countries lead when it comes to available public R&D funding relative to the sizes of their respective economies. Thereby, the share of the European Union’s funding within the total public R&D support available in each country is vastly heterogeneous across countries, ranging from 13% to 63%. Furthermore, based on detailed and recent data, the effectiveness of public R&D funding is estimated through a Negative Binomial Regression model with fixed effects. Overall, public R&D funding is confirmed as an effective driver of green innovation. Like in previous studies, limitations stem from restricted data availability and temporal uncertainty of innovation. These limitations are addressed, which shall incentivize future research and policymaking.

Suggested Citation

  • Maximilian Gasser & Simon Pezzutto & Wolfram Sparber & Eric Wilczynski, 2022. "Public Research and Development Funding for Renewable Energy Technologies in Europe: A Cross-Country Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-28, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5557-:d:809076
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5557/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/9/5557/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lionel Nesta & Francesco Vona & Francesco Nicolli, 2012. "Environmental Policies, Product Market Regulation and Innovation in Renewable Energy," Working Papers 2012.90, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    2. Daron Acemoglu & Philippe Aghion & Leonardo Bursztyn & David Hemous, 2012. "The Environment and Directed Technical Change," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(1), pages 131-166, February.
    3. David S. Lee & Thomas Lemieux, 2010. "Regression Discontinuity Designs in Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 281-355, June.
    4. Jacquelyn Pless & Cameron Hepburn & Niall Farrell, 2020. "Bringing rigour to energy innovation policy evaluation," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 284-290, April.
    5. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 287-343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Jarosław Brodny & Magdalena Tutak & Peter Bindzár, 2021. "Assessing the Level of Renewable Energy Development in the European Union Member States. A 10-Year Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-38, June.
    7. Nesta, Lionel & Vona, Francesco & Nicolli, Francesco, 2014. "Environmental policies, competition and innovation in renewable energy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 396-411.
    8. Baccini, Leonardo & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2012. "Legislative fractionalization and partisan shifts to the left increase the volatility of public energy R&D expenditures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 49-57.
    9. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Matthieu Glachant, 2014. "Does Foreign Environmental Policy Influence Domestic Innovation? Evidence from the Wind Industry," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 58(3), pages 391-413, July.
    10. Peters, Michael & Schneider, Malte & Griesshaber, Tobias & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2012. "The impact of technology-push and demand-pull policies on technical change – Does the locus of policies matter?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 1296-1308.
    11. Nick Johnstone & Ivan Haščič & David Popp, 2010. "Renewable Energy Policies and Technological Innovation: Evidence Based on Patent Counts," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 45(1), pages 133-155, January.
    12. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. A. Colin Cameron & Pravin K. Trivedi, 1986. "Econometric models based on count data. Comparisons and applications of some estimators and tests," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 1(1), pages 29-53, January.
    14. Popp, David, 2005. "Lessons from patents: Using patents to measure technological change in environmental models," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2-3), pages 209-226, August.
    15. Harhoff, Dietmar & Scherer, Frederic M. & Vopel, Katrin, 2003. "Citations, family size, opposition and the value of patent rights," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1343-1363, September.
    16. Baccini, Leonardo & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2012. "Legislative fractionalization and partisan shifts to the left increase the volatility of public energy R&D expenditures," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 45571, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Rennings, Klaus, 2000. "Redefining innovation -- eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 319-332, February.
    18. Unknown, 2016. "Energy for Sustainable Development," Conference Proceedings 253270, Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies (IDSAsr).
    19. Bronwyn H. Hall & Zvi Griliches & Jerry A. Hausman, 1983. "Patents and R&D: Searching for a Lag Structure," NBER Working Papers 1227, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Raphael Bointner & Simon Pezzutto & Gianluca Grilli & Wolfram Sparber, 2016. "Financing Innovations for the Renewable Energy Transition in Europe," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-16, November.
    21. Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto, 2012. "Are public policies towards renewables successful? Evidence from European countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 109-118.
    22. Li, Songran & Shao, Qinglong, 2021. "Exploring the determinants of renewable energy innovation considering the institutional factors: A negative binomial analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    23. Ajay Agrawal & Carlos Rosell & Timothy Simcoe, 2020. "Tax Credits and Small Firm R&D Spending," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 1-21, May.
    24. Juan Francisco De Negri & Simon Pezzutto & Sonia Gantioler & David Moser & Wolfram Sparber, 2020. "A Comprehensive Analysis of Public and Private Funding for Photovoltaics Research and Development in the European Union, Norway, and Turkey," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, May.
    25. Bronzini, Raffaello & Piselli, Paolo, 2016. "The impact of R&D subsidies on firm innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 442-457.
    26. Raphael Bointner & Simon Pezzutto & Wolfram Sparber, 2016. "Scenarios of public energy research and development expenditures: financing energy innovation in Europe," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(4), pages 470-488, July.
    27. Pitelis, Alkis & Vasilakos, Nicholas & Chalvatzis, Konstantinos, 2020. "Fostering innovation in renewable energy technologies: Choice of policy instruments and effectiveness," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 1163-1172.
    28. Horbach, Jens, 2008. "Determinants of environmental innovation--New evidence from German panel data sources," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 163-173, February.
    29. Brunnermeier, Smita B. & Cohen, Mark A., 2003. "Determinants of environmental innovation in US manufacturing industries," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 278-293, March.
    30. Lee, Kyungpyo & Lee, Sungjoo, 2013. "Patterns of technological innovation and evolution in the energy sector: A patent-based approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 415-432.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liu, Wei & Shen, Yedan & Razzaq, Asim, 2023. "How renewable energy investment, environmental regulations, and financial development derive renewable energy transition: Evidence from G7 countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 1188-1197.
    2. Yuen, Tin Hei Alpha & Yuen, Wai Kee Thomas, 2024. "Public investment on renewable energy R&D Projects: The role of geopolitical risk, and economic and political uncertainties," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    3. Li, Wei & Cao, Ning & Xiang, Zejia, 2023. "Drivers of renewable energy transition: The role of ICT, human development, financialization, and R&D investment in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 441-450.
    4. Lucie Kurekova & Klara Cermakova & Eduard Hromada & Bozena Kaderabkova, 2023. "Public funding in R&D and R&D outcome sustainable development: Analysis of Member States EU," International Journal of Economic Sciences, European Research Center, vol. 12(2), pages 40-62, November.
    5. Hosan, Shahadat & Sen, Kanchan Kumar & Rahman, Md Matiar & Chapman, Andrew J. & Karmaker, Shamal Chandra & Alam, Mohammad Jahangir & Saha, Bidyut Baran, 2024. "Energy innovation funding and social equity: Mediating role of just energy transition," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hille, Erik & Althammer, Wilhelm & Diederich, Henning, 2020. "Environmental regulation and innovation in renewable energy technologies: Does the policy instrument matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    2. Grafström, Jonas & Poudineh, Rahmat, 2023. "No evidence of counteracting policy effects on European solar power invention and diffusion," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    3. Costantini, Valeria & Crespi, Francesco & Palma, Alessandro, 2017. "Characterizing the policy mix and its impact on eco-innovation: A patent analysis of energy-efficient technologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 799-819.
    4. Bruns, Stephan B. & Kalthaus, Martin, 2020. "Flexibility in the selection of patent counts: Implications for p-hacking and evidence-based policymaking," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    5. Brian Chi-ang Lin & Siqi Zheng & Nicolò Barbieri & Claudia Ghisetti & Marianna Gilli & Giovanni Marin & Francesco Nicolli, 2016. "A Survey Of The Literature On Environmental Innovation Based On Main Path Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 596-623, July.
    6. Chengming Li & Han Shi & Liangen Zeng & Xiaomeng Dong, 2022. "How Strategic Interaction of Innovation Policies between China’s Regional Governments Affects Wind Energy Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, February.
    7. Herman, Kyle S. & Xiang, Jun, 2019. "Induced innovation in clean energy technologies from foreign environmental policy stringency?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 198-207.
    8. Conti, C. & Mancusi, M.L. & Sanna-Randaccio, F. & Sestini, R. & Verdolini, E., 2018. "Transition towards a green economy in Europe: Innovation and knowledge integration in the renewable energy sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10), pages 1996-2009.
    9. Kristoffer Palage & Robert Lundmark & Patrik Söderholm, 2019. "The innovation effects of renewable energy policies and their interaction: the case of solar photovoltaics," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 21(2), pages 217-254, April.
    10. Valeria Costantini & Francesco Crespi & Alessandro Palma, 2015. "Characterizing the policy mix and its impact on eco-innovation in energy-efficient technologies," SEEDS Working Papers 1115, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Jun 2015.
    11. Schleich, Joachim & Walz, Rainer & Ragwitz, Mario, 2017. "Effects of policies on patenting in wind-power technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 684-695.
    12. Gianluca ORSATTI, 2019. "Public R&D and green knowledge diffusion:\r\nEvidence from patent citation data," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2019-17, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    13. Kim, Yeong Jae & Brown, Marilyn, 2019. "Impact of domestic energy-efficiency policies on foreign innovation: The case of lighting technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 539-552.
    14. Samant, Shantala & Thakur-Wernz, Pooja & Hatfield, Donald E., 2020. "Does the focus of renewable energy policy impact the nature of innovation? Evidence from emerging economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    15. Tomasz Kijek & Arkadiusz Kijek & Piotr Bolibok & Anna Matras-Bolibok, 2021. "The Patterns of Energy Innovation Convergence across European Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, May.
    16. Peters, Michael & Schneider, Malte & Griesshaber, Tobias & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2012. "The impact of technology-push and demand-pull policies on technical change – Does the locus of policies matter?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 1296-1308.
    17. Cantner, Uwe & Graf, Holger & Herrmann, Johannes & Kalthaus, Martin, 2016. "Inventor networks in renewable energies: The influence of the policy mix in Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1165-1184.
    18. Costantini, Valeria & Crespi, Francesco & Martini, Chiara & Pennacchio, Luca, 2015. "Demand-pull and technology-push public support for eco-innovation: The case of the biofuels sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 577-595.
    19. Sam Aflaki & Syed Abul Basher & Andrea Masini, 2015. "Does Economic Growth Matter? Technology-Push, Demand-Pull and Endogenous Drivers of Innovation in the Renewable Energy Industry," Working Papers hal-02011423, HAL.
    20. Giovanni Marin & Francesca Lotti, 2017. "Productivity effects of eco-innovations using data on eco-patents," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 26(1), pages 125-148.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:9:p:5557-:d:809076. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.