[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v35y2017i2p312-333.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Historical institutionalism and the politics of sustainable energy transitions: A research agenda

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew Lockwood
  • Caroline Kuzemko
  • Catherine Mitchell
  • Richard Hoggett
Abstract
Improving the understanding of the politics of sustainable energy transitions has become a major focus for research. This paper builds on recent interest in institutionalist approaches to consider in some depth the agenda arising from a historical institutionalist perspective on such transitions. It is argued that historical institutionalism is a valuable complement to socio-technical systems approaches, offering tools for the explicit analysis of institutional dynamics that are present but implicit in the latter framework, opening up new questions and providing useful empirical material relevant for the study of the wider political contexts within which transitions are emerging. Deploying a number of core concepts including veto players, power, unintended consequences, and positive and negative feedback in a variety of ways, the paper explores research agendas in two broad areas: understanding diversity in transition outcomes in terms of the effects of different institutional arrangements, and the understanding of transitions in terms of institutional development and change. A range of issues are explored, including: the roles of electoral and political institutions, regulatory agencies, the creation of politically credible commitment to transition policies, power and incumbency, institutional systems and varieties of capitalism, sources of regime stability and instability, policy feedback effects, and types of gradual institutional change. The paper concludes with some observations on the potential and limitations of historical institutionalism, and briefly considers the question of whether there may be specific institutional configurations that would facilitate more rapid sustainable energy transitions.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Lockwood & Caroline Kuzemko & Catherine Mitchell & Richard Hoggett, 2017. "Historical institutionalism and the politics of sustainable energy transitions: A research agenda," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(2), pages 312-333, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:35:y:2017:i:2:p:312-333
    DOI: 10.1177/0263774X16660561
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0263774X16660561
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0263774X16660561?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dieter Helm & Cameron Hepburn & Richard Mash, 2003. "Credible Carbon Policy," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 19(3), pages 438-450.
    2. Cludius, Johanna & Hermann, Hauke & Matthes, Felix Chr. & Graichen, Verena, 2014. "The merit order effect of wind and photovoltaic electricity generation in Germany 2008–2016: Estimation and distributional implications," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 302-313.
    3. Iversen, Torben & Soskice, David, 2006. "Electoral Institutions and the Politics of Coalitions: Why Some Democracies Redistribute More Than Others," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 100(2), pages 165-181, May.
    4. George J. Stigler, 1971. "The Theory of Economic Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 2(1), pages 3-21, Spring.
    5. Weaver, Kent, 2010. "Paths and Forks or Chutes and Ladders?: Negative Feedbacks and Policy Regime Change," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(2), pages 137-162, August.
    6. Strbac, Goran & Pollitt, Michael & Konstantinidis, Christos Vasilakos & Konstantelos, Ioannis & Moreno, Rodrigo & Newbery, David & Green, Richard, 2014. "Electricity transmission arrangements in Great Britain: Time for change?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 298-311.
    7. Jacobsson, Staffan & Lauber, Volkmar, 2006. "The politics and policy of energy system transformation--explaining the German diffusion of renewable energy technology," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 256-276, February.
    8. Blanchet, Thomas, 2015. "Struggle over energy transition in Berlin: How do grassroots initiatives affect local energy policy-making?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 246-254.
    9. Frank W. Geels, 2013. "The Impact of the Financial and Economic Crisis on Sustainability Transitions: Financial Investment, Governance and Public Discourse. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 39," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 47014.
    10. Schaffer, Lena Maria & Bernauer, Thomas, 2014. "Explaining government choices for promoting renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 15-27.
    11. David, Paul A, 1985. "Clio and the Economics of QWERTY," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 332-337, May.
    12. van der Vleuten, Erik & Raven, Rob, 2006. "Lock-in and change: Distributed generation in Denmark in a long-term perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(18), pages 3739-3748, December.
    13. Crouch, Colin, 2005. "Capitalist Diversity and Change: Recombinant Governance and Institutional Entrepreneurs," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199286652.
    14. Unruh, Gregory C., 2000. "Understanding carbon lock-in," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 817-830, October.
    15. Geels, Frank W. & Schot, Johan, 2007. "Typology of sociotechnical transition pathways," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 399-417, April.
    16. John Mikler & Neil Harrison, 2012. "Varieties of Capitalism and Technological Innovation for Climate Change Mitigation," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 179-208.
    17. Catherine Mitchell, 2016. "Momentum is increasing towards a flexible electricity system based on renewables," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 1(2), pages 1-6, February.
    18. Laird, Frank N. & Stefes, Christoph, 2009. "The diverging paths of German and United States policies for renewable energy: Sources of difference," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2619-2629, July.
    19. Elizabeth Shove & Gordon Walker, 2007. "Caution! Transitions Ahead: Politics, Practice, and Sustainable Transition Management," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(4), pages 763-770, April.
    20. Erick Lachapelle & Matthew Paterson, 2013. "Drivers of national climate policy," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(5), pages 547-571, September.
    21. Hannon, Matthew J. & Bolton, Ronan, 2015. "UK Local Authority engagement with the Energy Service Company (ESCo) model: Key characteristics, benefits, limitations and considerations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 198-212.
    22. Geels, Frank W., 2002. "Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level perspective and a case-study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1257-1274, December.
    23. Kern, Florian & Smith, Adrian & Shaw, Chris & Raven, Rob & Verhees, Bram, 2014. "From laggard to leader: Explaining offshore wind developments in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 635-646.
    24. Lijphart, Arend, 1990. "The Political Consequences of Electoral Laws, 1945–85," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 84(2), pages 481-496, June.
    25. Cusack, Thomas R. & Iversen, Torben & Soskice, David, 2007. "Economic interests and the origins of electoral systems," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Institutions, States, Markets SP II 2007-07, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    26. Smith, Adrian & Stirling, Andy & Berkhout, Frans, 2005. "The governance of sustainable socio-technical transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 1491-1510, December.
    27. Nicola Persico & Alessandro Lizzeri, 2001. "The Provision of Public Goods under Alternative Electoral Incentives," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 225-239, March.
    28. Stenzel, Till & Frenzel, Alexander, 2008. "Regulating technological change--The strategic reactions of utility companies towards subsidy policies in the German, Spanish and UK electricity markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 2645-2657, July.
    29. Kingston, Christopher & Caballero, Gonzalo, 2009. "Comparing theories of institutional change," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(2), pages 151-180, August.
    30. Fredriksson, Per G. & Millimet, Daniel L., 2004. "Electoral rules and environmental policy," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 237-244, August.
    31. 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.
    32. Turnheim, Bruno & Geels, Frank W., 2012. "Regime destabilisation as the flipside of energy transitions: Lessons from the history of the British coal industry (1913–1997)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 35-49.
    33. Andrew Jordan & Elah Matt, 2014. "Designing policies that intentionally stick: policy feedback in a changing climate," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 47(3), pages 227-247, September.
    34. Faure-Grimaud, Antoine & Martimort, David, 2003. "Regulatory Inertia," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 34(3), pages 413-437, Autumn.
    35. Michaël Aklin & Johannes Urpelainen, 2013. "Political Competition, Path Dependence, and the Strategy of Sustainable Energy Transitions," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(3), pages 643-658, July.
    36. Dieter Helm, 2005. "The Assessment: The New Energy Paradigm," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 21(1), pages 1-18, Spring.
    37. Phil Johnstone & Andy Stirling, 2015. "Comparing Nuclear Power Trajectories inGermany And the UK: From ‘Regimes’ to ‘Democracies’ in Sociotechnical Transitions and Discontinuities," SPRU Working Paper Series 2015-18, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    38. Pierson, Paul, 2000. "Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 94(2), pages 251-267, June.
    39. Parag, Yael & Darby, Sarah, 2009. "Consumer-supplier-government triangular relations: Rethinking the UK policy path for carbon emissions reduction from the UK residential sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 3984-3992, October.
    40. James Meadowcroft, 2009. "What about the politics? Sustainable development, transition management, and long term energy transitions," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 42(4), pages 323-340, November.
    41. Cusack, Thomas R. & Iversen, Torben & Soskice, David, 2007. "Economic Interests and the Origins of Electoral Systems," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 101(3), pages 373-391, August.
    42. Smith, Adrian & Voß, Jan-Peter & Grin, John, 2010. "Innovation studies and sustainability transitions: The allure of the multi-level perspective and its challenges," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 435-448, May.
    43. Markard, Jochen & Raven, Rob & Truffer, Bernhard, 2012. "Sustainability transitions: An emerging field of research and its prospects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 955-967.
    44. Florian Kern & Michael Howlett, 2009. "Implementing transition management as policy reforms: a case study of the Dutch energy sector," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 42(4), pages 391-408, November.
    45. Florian Kern & Adrian Smith & Chris Shaw & Rob Raven & Bram Verhees, 2014. "From laggard to leader: Explaining offshore wind developments in the UK," SPRU Working Paper Series 2014-02, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    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. Hoicka, Christina E. & MacArthur, Julie L., 2018. "From tip to toes: Mapping community energy models in Canada and New Zealand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 162-174.
    2. Roberts, Cameron & Geels, Frank W., 2019. "Conditions for politically accelerated transitions: Historical institutionalism, the multi-level perspective, and two historical case studies in transport and agriculture," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 221-240.
    3. Israel, Alena & Jehling, Mathias, 2019. "How modern are renewables? The misrecognition of traditional solar thermal energy in Peru's energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Rentier, Gerrit & Lelieveldt, Herman & Kramer, Gert Jan, 2019. "Varieties of coal-fired power phase-out across Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 620-632.
    5. Royston, Sarah & Selby, Jan & Shove, Elizabeth, 2018. "Invisible energy policies: A new agenda for energy demand reduction," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 127-135.
    6. Sareen, Siddharth & Haarstad, Håvard, 2018. "Bridging socio-technical and justice aspects of sustainable energy transitions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 624-632.
    7. Lockwood, Matthew & Mitchell, Catherine & Hoggett, Richard & Kuzemko, Caroline, 2017. "The governance of industry rules and energy system innovation: The case of codes in Great Britain," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 41-49.
    8. Lowes, Richard & Woodman, Bridget & Fitch-Roy, Oscar, 2019. "Policy change, power and the development of Great Britain's Renewable Heat Incentive," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 410-421.

    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. Edmondson, Duncan L. & Kern, Florian & Rogge, Karoline S., 2019. "The co-evolution of policy mixes and socio-technical systems: Towards a conceptual framework of policy mix feedback in sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(10).
    2. Kivimaa, Paula & Kern, Florian, 2016. "Creative destruction or mere niche support? Innovation policy mixes for sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 205-217.
    3. Phil Johnstone & Andy Stirling, 2015. "Comparing Nuclear Power Trajectories inGermany And the UK: From ‘Regimes’ to ‘Democracies’ in Sociotechnical Transitions and Discontinuities," SPRU Working Paper Series 2015-18, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    4. Matthew Lockwood, 2022. "Policy feedback and institutional context in energy transitions," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 55(3), pages 487-507, September.
    5. Markard, Jochen & Raven, Rob & Truffer, Bernhard, 2012. "Sustainability transitions: An emerging field of research and its prospects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 955-967.
    6. Jasminka Young & Aleksandar Macura, 2023. "Forging Local Energy Transition in the Most Carbon-Intensive European Region of the Western Balkans," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-29, February.
    7. Monk, Alexander & Perkins, Richard, 2020. "What explains the emergence and diffusion of green bonds?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    8. Kuokkanen, A. & Nurmi, A. & Mikkilä, M. & Kuisma, M. & Kahiluoto, H. & Linnanen, L., 2018. "Agency in regime destabilization through the selection environment: The Finnish food system’s sustainability transition," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8), pages 1513-1522.
    9. Christoph H. Stefes, 2020. "Opposing Energy Transitions: Modeling the Contested Nature of Energy Transitions in the Electricity Sector," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 37(3), pages 292-312, May.
    10. Pesch, Udo, 2015. "Tracing discursive space: Agency and change in sustainability transitions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 90(PB), pages 379-388.
    11. Steven Bernstein & Matthew Hoffmann, 2018. "The politics of decarbonization and the catalytic impact of subnational climate experiments," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 51(2), pages 189-211, June.
    12. Attila Havas & Doris Schartinger & K. Matthias Weber, 2022. "Innovation Studies, Social Innovation, and Sustainability Transitions Research: From mutual ignorance towards an integrative perspective?," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 2227, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    13. Stefan Ćetković & Aron Buzogány & Miranda Schreurs, 2016. "Varieties of clean energy transitions in Europe: Political-economic foundations of onshore and offshore wind development," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-18, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Rosenbloom, Daniel & Berton, Harris & Meadowcroft, James, 2016. "Framing the sun: A discursive approach to understanding multi-dimensional interactions within socio-technical transitions through the case of solar electricity in Ontario, Canada," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1275-1290.
    15. Sorrell, Steve, 2018. "Explaining sociotechnical transitions: A critical realist perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7), pages 1267-1282.
    16. Stefan Cetkovic & Aron Buzogány & Miranda Schreurs, 2016. "Varieties of clean energy transitions in Europe Political-economic foundations of onshore and offshore wind development," WIDER Working Paper Series 018, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Edsand, Hans-Erik, 2019. "Technological innovation system and the wider context: A framework for developing countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    18. Turnheim, Bruno & Nykvist, Björn, 2019. "Opening up the feasibility of sustainability transitions pathways (STPs): Representations, potentials, and conditions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 775-788.
    19. Roberts, Cameron & Geels, Frank W., 2019. "Conditions for politically accelerated transitions: Historical institutionalism, the multi-level perspective, and two historical case studies in transport and agriculture," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 221-240.
    20. Rob Raven & Johan Schot & Frans Berkhout, 2012. "Breaking out of the national: Foundations for a multi-scalar perspective of socio-technical transitions," Working Papers 12-03, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies, revised Aug 2012.

    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:sae:envirc:v:35:y:2017:i:2:p:312-333. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.