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The ability of European regions to diversify in renewable energies: The role of technological relatedness

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  • Moreno, Rosina
  • Ocampo-Corrales, Diego

Abstract

Despite the global consensus about the growing significance of renewables, the regional drivers of innovation in these unique and novel technologies have been widely neglected in the literature. In this paper, we show that renewable energy (RE) inventions differ from other green inventions in the knowledge recombination processes leading to their generation as well as in their impact on subsequent inventions. The evidence on these specificities of RE technologies allows us hypothesizing that regional branching in renewables may rely on relatedness differently than other non-RE green technologies. In checking this hypothesis, we use a data set spanning the period 1981-2015 covering 277 European NUTS2 regions in the EU28 countries plus Norway. We obtain that relatedness is highly relevant in explaining regional specialization in RE, and more relevant than for other green technologies, which we associate to the lower generality in their impact and the narrower scope of the knowledge from which they nurture. This conclusion is maintained when considering separately regions with high and low development levels. However, the impact of relatedness increases for RE as the regional economic development decreases, signalling that a low endowment of resources and capabilities does not allow the region to break from its past technological specialization, depending more on relatedness. This would not be the case for other green technologies, probably due to their higher level of generality and wider scope.

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  • Moreno, Rosina & Ocampo-Corrales, Diego, 2022. "The ability of European regions to diversify in renewable energies: The role of technological relatedness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(5).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:51:y:2022:i:5:s0048733322000361
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2022.104508
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    2. Hidalgo, César A., 2023. "The policy implications of economic complexity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(9).
    3. Su, Xiang & Tan, Junlan, 2023. "Regional energy transition path and the role of government support and resource endowment in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    4. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Bartalucci, Federico, 2023. "The green transition and its potential territorial discontents," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120536, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Sabbar Dahham Sabbar & Hani Amer Musa & Abdul Rahman Kadir & Mursalim Nohong & Arifuddin Manan & Musran Munizu & Anas Iswanto Anwar, 2023. "The Role of Green Marketing and Promotion of Green Energy Bonds to Reduce Carbon Emissions in Indonesia," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(5), pages 73-82, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Renewable energy; Relatedness; Regional technological branching;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation

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