A spatial perspective on the legitimacy of a technological innovation system: Regional differences in onshore wind energy

Legitimacy is a key function within Technological Innovation Systems (TIS), influencing the development and diffusion of novel technologies such as onshore wind energy. By combining insights from TIS and from organization studies, we provide theoretical and empirical underpinnings to ‘legitimacy’, a concept often defined superficially and mapped at an aggregate, national level. We add a spatial perspective by comparing dimensions of legitimacy between two heterogenous regions in Germany. They have similar diffusion trajectories of wind energy but differ in structural features (socio-economic factors and TIS elements). To capture place-specific institutions and dynamics influencing regional legitimacy, we focus on decision makers and their perception of the TIS. Even though politicians and civil servants are crucial for wind development in their constituent regions and are thus important contextual actors to the TIS, their perspective has been mostly neglected. Applying a comprehensive, mixed methods approach, we conducted an online survey among these decision makers and complemented the insights with qualitative expert interviews. Our analysis shows that pragmatic and moral dimensions of legitimacy are particularly susceptible to place-specific influences. These spatially sensitive insights have been missing from the debate on legitimacy so far and might inform policy directed at advancing technological legitimacy in certain regions.