IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/tut/cccrwp/2015-01-ccr.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Political Economy of Renewable Energies

Author

Listed:
  • Isabelle CADORET

    (CREM-CNRS and Condorcet Center, University of Rennes 1, France)

  • Fabio PADOVANO

    (CREM-CNRS and Condorcet Center, University of Rennes 1, France, Department of Political Sciences, University Roma Tre, Italy)

Abstract

This paper empirically analyzes how political factors affect the deployment of renewable energy (RE) sources and compares it to other economic, energy and environmental drivers that have received greater attention in the literature so far. The sample encompasses the EU countries bound to attain the target of 20% share of gross final energy consumption by 2020. The panel data analysis shows that lobbying by the agricultural industry negatively affect RE deployment, whereas standard measures of government quality show a positive effect; furthermore left-wing parties promote the deployment of RE more than right wing ones, but this effect is reduced when the governing coalition is highly concentrated. Among the control variables, economic growth shows a positive impact on RE deployment.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabelle CADORET & Fabio PADOVANO, 2015. "The Political Economy of Renewable Energies," Economics Working Paper from Condorcet Center for political Economy at CREM-CNRS 2015-01-ccr, Condorcet Center for political Economy.
    • Handle: RePEc:tut:cccrwp:2015-01-ccr
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ged.univ-rennes1.fr/nuxeo/site/esupversions/369d855c-3b1a-4042-9383-a88c06fde0e0
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Niklas Potrafke, 2011. "Does government ideology influence budget composition? Empirical evidence from OECD countries," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 101-134, June.
    2. Niklas Potrafke, 2010. "Does government ideology influence deregulation of product markets? Empirical evidence from OECD countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 135-155, April.
    3. Greene, William, 2011. "Fixed Effects Vector Decomposition: A Magical Solution to the Problem of Time-Invariant Variables in Fixed Effects Models?," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 135-146, April.
    4. Welsch, Heinz, 2004. "Corruption, growth, and the environment: a cross-country analysis," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(5), pages 663-693, October.
    5. Grossman, Gene M & Helpman, Elhanan, 1994. "Protection for Sale," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 833-850, September.
    6. Chang, Chun Ping & Berdiev, Aziz N., 2011. "The political economy of energy regulation in OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 816-825, September.
    7. Neumayer, Eric, 2003. "Are left-wing party strength and corporatism good for the environment? Evidence from panel analysis of air pollution in OECD countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 203-220, June.
    8. Carley, Sanya, 2009. "State renewable energy electricity policies: An empirical evaluation of effectiveness," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3071-3081, August.
    9. Enrico Longoni & Filippo Gregorini, 2009. "Inequality, Political Systems and Public Spending," Working Papers 159, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2009.
    10. Marques, António C. & Fuinhas, José A. & Pires Manso, J.R., 2010. "Motivations driving renewable energy in European countries: A panel data approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 6877-6885, November.
    11. Shrimali, Gireesh & Kniefel, Joshua, 2011. "Are government policies effective in promoting deployment of renewable electricity resources?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 4726-4741, September.
    12. Breusch, Trevor & Ward, Michael B. & Nguyen, Hoa Thi Minh & Kompas, Tom, 2011. "On the Fixed-Effects Vector Decomposition," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 123-134, April.
    13. Arrow, Kenneth & Bolin, Bert & Costanza, Robert & Dasgupta, Partha & Folke, Carl & Holling, C.S. & Jansson, Bengt-Owe & Levin, Simon & Mäler, Karl-Göran & Perrings, Charles & Pimentel, David, 1996. "Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 104-110, February.
    14. Per Fredriksson & Herman Vollebergh, 2009. "Corruption, federalism, and policy formation in the OECD: the case of energy policy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 205-221, July.
    15. Leng Wong, Siang & Chia, Wai-Mun & Chang, Youngho, 2013. "Energy consumption and energy R&D in OECD: Perspectives from oil prices and economic growth," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1581-1590.
    16. Werner Antweiler & Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2001. "Is Free Trade Good for the Environment?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 877-908, September.
    17. Plümper, Thomas & Troeger, Vera E., 2007. "Efficient Estimation of Time-Invariant and Rarely Changing Variables in Finite Sample Panel Analyses with Unit Fixed Effects," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(2), pages 124-139, April.
    18. Neumayer, Eric, 2004. "The environment, left-wing political orientation and ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3-4), pages 167-175, December.
    19. Fredriksson, Per G., 1997. "The Political Economy of Pollution Taxes in a Small Open Economy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 44-58, May.
    20. Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto, 2011. "Drivers promoting renewable energy: A dynamic panel approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 1601-1608, April.
    21. Fouquet, Doerte & Johansson, Thomas B., 2008. "European renewable energy policy at crossroads--Focus on electricity support mechanisms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4079-4092, November.
    22. Niklas Potrafke, 2009. "Did globalization restrict partisan politics? An empirical evaluation of social expenditures in a panel of OECD countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 105-124, July.
    23. Fredriksson, Per G. & Svensson, Jakob, 2003. "Political instability, corruption and policy formation: the case of environmental policy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(7-8), pages 1383-1405, August.
    24. Fredriksson, Per G. & Vollebergh, Herman R. J. & Dijkgraaf, Elbert, 2004. "Corruption and energy efficiency in OECD countries: theory and evidence," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 207-231, March.
    25. Costanza, Robert, 1995. "Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 89-90, November.
    26. Lopez, Ramon & Mitra, Siddhartha, 2000. "Corruption, Pollution, and the Kuznets Environment Curve," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 137-150, September.
    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. Goetzke, Frank & Rave, Tilmann, 2016. "Exploring heterogeneous growth of wind energy across Germany," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 193-205.
    2. Isabelle Cadoret & Emma Galli & Fabio Padovano, 2021. "Environmental taxation: Pigouvian or Leviathan?," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 48(1), pages 37-51, March.
    3. Julien Jacqmin, 2018. "The role of market-oriented institutions in the deployment of renewable energies: evidences from Europe," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(2), pages 202-215, January.
    4. Löffler, Konstantin & Burandt, Thorsten & Hainsch, Karlo & Oei, Pao-Yu, 2019. "Modeling the low-carbon transition of the European energy system - A quantitative assessment of the stranded assets problem," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26, pages 1-15.

    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. Cadoret, Isabelle & Padovano, Fabio, 2016. "The political drivers of renewable energies policies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 261-269.
    2. Isabelle Cadoret & Emma Galli & Fabio Padovano, 2021. "Environmental taxation: Pigouvian or Leviathan?," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 48(1), pages 37-51, March.
    3. Nicolli, Francesco & Vona, Francesco, 2019. "Energy market liberalization and renewable energy policies in OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 853-867.
    4. Chang, Chun-Ping & Wen, Jun & Zheng, Mingbo & Dong, Minyi & Hao, Yu, 2018. "Is higher government efficiency conducive to improving energy use efficiency? Evidence from OECD countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 65-77.
    5. Isabelle Cadoret & Emma Galli & Fabio Padovano, 2020. "How do governments actually use environmental taxes?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(48), pages 5263-5281, October.
    6. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p544jc8op is not listed on IDEAS
    7. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p544jc8op is not listed on IDEAS
    8. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p544jc8op is not listed on IDEAS
    9. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p544jc8op is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Isabelle Cadoret & Fabio Padovano, 2018. "Derterminants and consequences of the stringency of environmental policies: an empirical test," Economics Working Paper from Condorcet Center for political Economy at CREM-CNRS 2018-04-ccr, Condorcet Center for political Economy.
    11. Francesco Vona & Francesco Nicolli, 2013. "Energy market liberalisation and renewable energy policies in OECD countries," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-00973070, HAL.
    12. Nicolli, Francesco & Vona, Francesco, 2012. "The Evolution of Renewable Energy Policy in OECD Countries: Aggregate Indicators and Determinants," Climate Change and Sustainable Development 130897, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    13. Halkos, George E. & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2014. "Public sector transparency and countries’ environmental performance: A nonparametric analysis," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 19-37.
    14. Francesco Nicolli & Francesco Vona, 2012. "The evolution of renewable energy policy in OECD countries: aggregate indicators and determinants," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03461247, HAL.
    15. Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2004. "Trade, Growth, and the Environment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(1), pages 7-71, March.
    16. Bersalli, Germán & Menanteau, Philippe & El-Methni, Jonathan, 2020. "Renewable energy policy effectiveness: A panel data analysis across Europe and Latin America," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    17. Abban, Abdul Rashid & Hasan, Mohammad Zahid, 2021. "Revisiting the determinants of renewable energy investment - New evidence from political and government ideology," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    18. Patricia Renou-Maissant & Rafik Abdessalam & Jean Bonnet, 2018. "Trajectories for energy transition in the countries of the European Union over the period 2000-2015: a multidimensional approach," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes & University of Caen) 2018-14, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes, University of Caen and CNRS.
    19. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/53r60a8s3kup1vc9k0sk04p9n is not listed on IDEAS
    20. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/53r60a8s3kup1vc9k0sk04p9n is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Shouro Dasgupta & Enrica De Cian, 2016. "Institutions and the Environment: Existing Evidence and Future Directions," Working Papers 2016.41, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    22. Arminen, Heli & Menegaki, Angeliki N., 2019. "Corruption, climate and the energy-environment-growth nexus," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 621-634.
    23. Katrin Millock & Natalia Zugravu & Gérard Duchene, 2008. "The Factors Behind CO2 Emission Reduction in Transition Economies," Working Papers 2008.58, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    24. kos Hamburger & G bor Harangoz, 2018. "Factors Affecting the Evolution of Renewable Electricity Generating Capacities: A Panel Data Analysis of European Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 8(5), pages 161-172.
    25. Martin Gassebner & Noel Gaston & Michael J Lamla, 2008. "Relief For The Environment? The Importance Of An Increasingly Unimportant Industrial Sector," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 46(2), pages 160-178, April.
    26. Chang, Chun Ping & Berdiev, Aziz N., 2011. "The political economy of energy regulation in OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 816-825, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    renewable energy sources; energy policy; quality of government; lobbying; political ideology;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • H87 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:tut:cccrwp:2015-01-ccr. 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: GERMAIN Lucie (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cccrmfr.html .

    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.