IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v147y2020ics0301421520305073.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of public interventions in inducing private climate finance: An empirical analysis of the solar energy sector

Author

Listed:
  • Corrocher, Nicoletta
  • Cappa, Elisabetta

Abstract

This paper analyses the factors explaining the recent boost in solar energy private investments, focusing on the role of public finance and public policy tools - feed-in-tariffs and renewable energy quotas. Drawing on a micro-level database of financial transactions in solar energy projects in 23 OECD countries over the period 2004–2015, we perform a panel data analysis to study the relationship between public finance and public policies and private investments in solar energy, controlling for composition of the energy industry and market characteristics by country. We find that the provision of public finance is positively associated with private finance flows. Furthermore, we show that public policy stimulates private investments, but the effect of renewable energy quotas on private finance is larger than that of feed-in tariffs. Finally, the availability of fossil fuels constitutes an important barrier to solar energy investments, while the presence of alternative sources of clean energy does not hinder private climate finance.

Suggested Citation

  • Corrocher, Nicoletta & Cappa, Elisabetta, 2020. "The Role of public interventions in inducing private climate finance: An empirical analysis of the solar energy sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:147:y:2020:i:c:s0301421520305073
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111787
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421520305073
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111787?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rafael E. De Hoyos & Vasilis Sarafidis, 2006. "Testing for cross-sectional dependence in panel-data models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 6(4), pages 482-496, December.
    2. Mary Lovely & David Popp, 2008. "Trade, Technology, and the Environment: Why Have Poor Countries Regulated Sooner?," NBER Working Papers 14286, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Philippe Menanteau & Dominique Finon & Marie-Laure Lamy, 2003. "Prices versus quantities :environmental policies for promoting the development of renewable energy," Post-Print halshs-00480457, HAL.
    4. Masini, Andrea & Menichetti, Emanuela, 2012. "The impact of behavioural factors in the renewable energy investment decision making process: Conceptual framework and empirical findings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 28-38.
    5. Mazzucato, Mariana & Semieniuk, Gregor, 2018. "Financing renewable energy: Who is financing what and why it matters," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 8-22.
    6. Michael I. Cragg & Yuyu Zhou & Kevin Gurney & Matthew E. Kahn, 2013. "Carbon Geography: The Political Economy Of Congressional Support For Legislation Intended To Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Production," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(2), pages 1640-1650, April.
    7. Ivan Haščič & Miguel Cárdenas Rodríguez & Raphaël Jachnik & Jérôme Silva & Nick Johnstone, 2015. "Public Interventions and Private Climate Finance Flows: Empirical Evidence from Renewable Energy Financing," OECD Environment Working Papers 80, OECD Publishing.
    8. Martins, Ana Cravinho & Marques, Rui Cunha & Cruz, Carlos Oliveira, 2011. "Public-private partnerships for wind power generation: The Portuguese case," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 94-104, January.
    9. Bergek, Anna & Mignon, Ingrid & Sundberg, Gunnel, 2013. "Who invests in renewable electricity production? Empirical evidence and suggestions for further research," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 568-581.
    10. Mitchell, C. & Bauknecht, D. & Connor, P.M., 2006. "Effectiveness through risk reduction: a comparison of the renewable obligation in England and Wales and the feed-in system in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 297-305, February.
    11. Popp, David & Newell, Richard G. & Jaffe, Adam B., 2010. "Energy, the Environment, and Technological Change," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 873-937, Elsevier.
    12. Menanteau, Philippe & Finon, Dominique & Lamy, Marie-Laure, 2003. "Prices versus quantities: choosing policies for promoting the development of renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 799-812, June.
    13. Nick Johnstone & Ivan Haščič & David Popp, 2010. "Renewable Energy Policies and Technological Innovation: Evidence Based on Patent Counts," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 45(1), pages 133-155, January.
    14. Polzin, Friedemann & Migendt, Michael & Täube, Florian A. & von Flotow, Paschen, 2015. "Public policy influence on renewable energy investments—A panel data study across OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 98-111.
    15. Rennings, Klaus, 2000. "Redefining innovation -- eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 319-332, February.
    16. Mathews, John A. & Kidney, Sean & Mallon, Karl & Hughes, Mark, 2010. "Mobilizing private finance to drive an energy industrial revolution," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3263-3265, July.
    17. Jefferson, Michael, 2008. "Accelerating the transition to sustainable energy systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4116-4125, November.
    18. Popp, David & Hascic, Ivan & Medhi, Neelakshi, 2011. "Technology and the diffusion of renewable energy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 648-662, July.
    19. Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto, 2012. "Are public policies towards renewables successful? Evidence from European countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 109-118.
    20. Andrea Masini & E. Menichetti, 2012. "The impact of behavioural factors in the renewable energy investment decision making process: Conceptual framework and empirical findings," Post-Print hal-00651706, HAL.
    21. Carley, Sanya, 2009. "State renewable energy electricity policies: An empirical evaluation of effectiveness," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3071-3081, August.
    22. Raphaël Jachnik & Randy Caruso & Aman Srivastava, 2015. "Estimating Mobilised Private Climate Finance: Methodological Approaches, Options and Trade-offs," OECD Environment Working Papers 83, OECD Publishing.
    23. Criscuolo, Chiara & Menon, Carlo, 2015. "Environmental policies and risk finance in the green sector: Cross-country evidence," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 38-56.
    24. Pablo del Río & Javier Carrillo‐Hermosilla & Totti Könnölä, 2010. "Policy Strategies to Promote Eco‐Innovation: An Integrated Framework," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 14(4), pages 541-557, August.
    25. Miguel Cárdenas Rodríguez & Ivan Haščič & Nick Johnstone & Jérôme Silva & Antoine Ferey, 2014. "Inducing Private Finance for Renewable Energy Projects: Evidence from Micro-Data," OECD Environment Working Papers 67, OECD Publishing.
    26. Eyraud, Luc & Clements, Benedict & Wane, Abdoul, 2013. "Green investment: Trends and determinants," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 852-865.
    27. Hoppmann, Joern & Huenteler, Joern & Girod, Bastien, 2014. "Compulsive policy-making—The evolution of the German feed-in tariff system for solar photovoltaic power," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1422-1441.
    28. 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.
    29. David Popp, 2003. "Pollution control innovations and the Clean Air Act of 1990," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(4), pages 641-660.
    30. Wüstenhagen, Rolf & Menichetti, Emanuela, 2012. "Strategic choices for renewable energy investment: Conceptual framework and opportunities for further research," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-10.
    31. Foxon, T.J. & Pearson, P.J.G., 2007. "Towards improved policy processes for promoting innovation in renewable electricity technologies in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 1539-1550, March.
    32. Szabó, Sándor & Jäger-Waldau, Arnulf, 2008. "More competition: Threat or chance for financing renewable electricity?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 1436-1447, April.
    33. Enrico Botta & Tomasz Koźluk, 2014. "Measuring Environmental Policy Stringency in OECD Countries: A Composite Index Approach," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1177, OECD Publishing.
    34. Daniel Hoechle, 2007. "Robust standard errors for panel regressions with cross-sectional dependence," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(3), pages 281-312, September.
    35. Olmos, Luis & Ruester, Sophia & Liong, Siok-Jen, 2012. "On the selection of financing instruments to push the development of new technologies: Application to clean energy technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 252-266.
    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. Songhee Han & Hannah Jun, 2023. "Growth, emissions, and climate finance nexus for sustainable development: Revisiting the environmental Kuznets curve," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 510-527, February.
    2. Wen-Hsiang Chiu & Wen-Cheng Lin & Chun-Nan Chen & Nien-Ping Chen, 2021. "Using an Analytical Hierarchy Process to Analyze the Development of the Green Energy Industry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Aghilasse Kashi & Mohamed Eskandar Shah, 2023. "Bibliometric Review on Sustainable Finance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-30, April.
    4. Popkova, Elena G. & Sergi, Bruno S., 2024. "Energy infrastructure: Investment, sustainability and AI," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Ekaterina Azarova & Hannah Jun, 2021. "Investigating Determinants of International Clean Energy Investments in Emerging Markets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, October.
    6. Tang, Yi, 2024. "Nexus of natural resource depletion, corruption and financial inclusion on bio-diversity loss: A systematic study on corrupt economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    7. Tian Han & Ying Wang & Xiao Wang & Kang Chen & Huaiwu Peng & Zhenxin Gao & Lanxin Cui & Wentong Sun & Qinke Peng, 2023. "Mixed Multi-Pattern Regression for DNI Prediction in Arid Desert Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-16, August.
    8. Yang, Qi-Cheng & Zheng, Mingbo & Wang, Jun-Sheng & Wang, Yun-Peng, 2022. "The shocks of armed conflicts to renewable energy finance: Empirical evidence from cross-country data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    9. Lin, Boqiang & Li, Minyang, 2024. "Micro Mechanisms Driving China's Clean Energy Flourish: Business Expansion and Financing," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

    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. Polzin, Friedemann & Migendt, Michael & Täube, Florian A. & von Flotow, Paschen, 2015. "Public policy influence on renewable energy investments—A panel data study across OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 98-111.
    2. Polzin, Friedemann, 2017. "Mobilizing private finance for low-carbon innovation – A systematic review of barriers and solutions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 525-535.
    3. Polzin, Friedemann & Egli, Florian & Steffen, Bjarne & Schmidt, Tobias S., 2019. "How do policies mobilize private finance for renewable energy?—A systematic review with an investor perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 1249-1268.
    4. Romano, Antonio A. & Scandurra, Giuseppe & Carfora, Alfonso & Fodor, Mate, 2017. "Renewable investments: The impact of green policies in developing and developed countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P1), pages 738-747.
    5. F.H.J. Polzin & M.W.J.L. Sanders & Florian Täube, 2017. "A diverse and resilient financial system for investments in the energy transition," Working Papers 17-03, Utrecht School of Economics.
    6. Mazzucato, Mariana & Semieniuk, Gregor, 2018. "Financing renewable energy: Who is financing what and why it matters," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 8-22.
    7. García-Álvarez, María Teresa & Cabeza-García, Laura & Soares, Isabel, 2017. "Analysis of the promotion of onshore wind energy in the EU: Feed-in tariff or renewable portfolio standard?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 256-264.
    8. Sam Aflaki & Syed Abul Basher & Andrea Masini, 2015. "Does Economic Growth Matter? Technology-Push, Demand-Pull and Endogenous Drivers of Innovation in the Renewable Energy Industry," Working Papers hal-02011423, HAL.
    9. Degirmenci, Tunahan & Yavuz, Hakan, 2024. "Environmental taxes, R&D expenditures and renewable energy consumption in EU countries: Are fiscal instruments effective in the expansion of clean energy?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    10. Mac Domhnaill, Ciarán & Ryan, Lisa, 2020. "Towards renewable electricity in Europe: Revisiting the determinants of renewable electricity in the European Union," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 955-965.
    11. Rydehell, Hanna & Lantz, Björn & Mignon, Ingrid & Lindahl, Johan, 2024. "The impact of solar PV subsidies on investment over time - the case of Sweden," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    12. Guillaume Bourgeois & Sandrine Mathy & Philippe Menanteau, 2017. "The effect of climate policies on renewable energies : a review of econometric studies [L’effet des politiques climatiques sur les énergies renouvelables : une revue des études économétriques]," Post-Print hal-01585906, HAL.
    13. Heiskanen, Eva & Jalas, Mikko & Juntunen, Jouni K. & Nissilä, Heli, 2017. "Small streams, diverse sources: Who invests in renewable energy in Finland during the financial downturn?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 191-200.
    14. Felix Groba & Barbara Breitschopf, 2013. "Impact of Renewable Energy Policy and Use on Innovation: A Literature Review," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1318, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    15. Youhyun Lee & Inseok Seo, 2019. "Sustainability of a Policy Instrument: Rethinking the Renewable Portfolio Standard in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-19, May.
    16. del Río, Pablo & Bleda, Mercedes, 2012. "Comparing the innovation effects of support schemes for renewable electricity technologies: A function of innovation approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 272-282.
    17. Escoffier, Margaux & Hache, Emmanuel & Mignon, Valérie & Paris, Anthony, 2021. "Determinants of solar photovoltaic deployment in the electricity mix: Do oil prices really matter?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    18. Valérie Mignon & Margaux Escoffier & Emmanuel Hache & Anthony Paris, 2019. "Determinants of investments in solar photovoltaic: Do oil prices really matter?," EconomiX Working Papers 2019-28, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    19. Grashof, Katherina, 2019. "Are auctions likely to deter community wind projects? And would this be problematic?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 20-32.
    20. Niesten, Eva & Jolink, Albert & Chappin, Maryse, 2018. "Investments in the Dutch onshore wind energy industry: A review of investor profiles and the impact of renewable energy subsidies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2519-2525.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Solar energy; Public finance; Private finance; Public policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation

    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:eee:enepol:v:147:y:2020:i:c:s0301421520305073. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    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.