Energy Transition in Germany and Regional Spillovers: What Triggers the Diffusion of Renewable Energy in Firms?

Abstract

Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW. Energy Transition in Germany and Regional Spillovers: What Triggers the Diffusion of Renewable Energy in Firms?Jens Horbach AbstractThe success of an energy turnaround towards renewables highly depends on the willingness and ability of firms to adopt energy technologies using renewable sources. Existing studies focused on the role of regulation and energy markets (e.g. the price for fossil energy) to explain the diffusion of green energy technologies. The present paper tries to give a more comprehensive view on the determinants of renewable energy innovations focusing on the crucial role of firms' regional environment (role of regional spillover effects, the greenness of a region and the regional endowment with green energy plants). We use a unique database combining the Community Innovation Survey 2014 for Germany and NUTS 3 data on renewable energy plants, the greenness of a region and other economic control variables. We find that geographical proximity to electricity production based on renewable energy sources and the orientation of a region towards 'green issues' (measured by the share of green party voters) are both major drivers for such innovations. Furthermore, our results show that in addition to regulation, government subsidies for eco-innovation, high energy costs and regional knowledge spillovers contribute to a rapid adoption of renewable energy. The reinforcing nature of this process leads to a diverging regional development of renewable energy innovations.JEL-Classification: C25, O31, Q20, R11

Differences of Corporate Environmental Responsibility in Small and Medium Enterprises: Spain and Norway

“…When the firms are required to reach a certain level of environmental commitment, and there is also an efficient way to check that these requirements are indeed being fulfilled, a higher number of SMEs will be actually complying with the legal requirements, which is also the case of Norway, where the law and the enforcement of such laws are stricter than the regulation in Spain. As Horbach and Rammer [24] suggest in their study, the strengthening of regulation and green movements at a smaller level might increase the adoption of greener technologies among SMEs.…”

“…Horbach and Rammer [24] are one of the few authors that focus on SMEs' regional differences of environmental measures and legislation in Germany. This paper tries to assess the reasons for regional differences in the diffusion of renewable energy innovations, despite acting in similar regulation conditions.…”

The impact of solar energy investment in multilateral development banks on technological innovation: Evidence from a multi-period DID method

“…Therefore, the effect of solar energy investment on technological innovation can be affected by a variety of factors, including the economic and social costs of applying and promoting the use of solar technology. The effective point of project investment and effective utilization rate of project investment have an impact on technological innovation (Horbach and Rammer, 2017). The differences in national natural resource endowments, energy conservation and emission reduction targets, as well as economic development levels, can impact the effectiveness of MDBs solar project investments (Carley, 2009;Trappey et al, 2015;Li et al, 2016;Nyiwul, 2017;Szulecki, 2017).…”