IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v9y2017i4p617-d95887.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy R&D towards Sustainability: A Panel Analysis of Government Budget for Energy R&D in OECD Countries (1974–2012)

Author

Listed:
  • Inkyoung Sun

    (Graduate School of Science and Technology Policy, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Korea)

  • So Young Kim

    (Graduate School of Science and Technology Policy, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Korea)

Abstract

Energy transition is one of the greatest challenges for sustainability. However, the overall composition of the world energy supply has not changed much since the late 1970s, with fossil fuels providing 81% of the world’s total primary energy supply. While political leaders increasingly call for proactive policies to innovate the energy sector in the face of climate change, governments around the world commit vastly different levels of budgets to energy R&D. This research examines the potential determinants of cross-national variations in government budget allocations for energy R&D with three perspectives. With the panel data analysis of OECD countries (1974–2012), we check the supply-side, demand-side, and institutional factors inducing government investment in R&D for energy in general as well as for renewable energy. Among the multitude of factors tested in our analysis, gross domestic R&D expenditure, refinery output, and the rightist orientation of the governing party show significantly positive influences on government R&D budgets for energy in general. However, refinery output shows the negative effect on government R&D budget for renewables. This contrasting finding about the impact of refinery output on government investment in energy R&D in general vs. renewable energy R&D suggests that policymakers and scholars need to better appreciate the complex roles of the oil sector in driving public R&D investment in energy. It also calls for more proactive renewable energy policy to make progress towards sustainable energy transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Inkyoung Sun & So Young Kim, 2017. "Energy R&D towards Sustainability: A Panel Analysis of Government Budget for Energy R&D in OECD Countries (1974–2012)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:4:p:617-:d:95887
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/4/617/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/4/617/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arie Y Lewin & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters, 2009. "Why are companies offshoring innovation? The emerging global race for talent," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(8), pages 1406-1406, October.
    2. Bang, Guri, 2010. "Energy security and climate change concerns: Triggers for energy policy change in the United States?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1645-1653, April.
    3. Evens Salies, 2010. "A Test of the Schumpeterian Hypothesis in a Panel of European Electric Utilities," Chapters, in: Jean-Luc Gaffard & Evens Salies (ed.), Innovation, Economic Growth and the Firm, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Markard, Jochen & Truffer, Bernhard, 2006. "Innovation processes in large technical systems: Market liberalization as a driver for radical change?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 609-625, June.
    5. Costa-Campi, M.T. & Duch-Brown, N. & García-Quevedo, J., 2014. "R&D drivers and obstacles to innovation in the energy industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 20-30.
    6. Arie Lewin & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters, 2008. "Why are companies offshoring innovation ?the emerging global race for talent," Working Papers CEB 08-009, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    7. Horbach, Jens & Rammer, Christian & Rennings, Klaus, 2012. "Determinants of eco-innovations by type of environmental impact — The role of regulatory push/pull, technology push and market pull," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 112-122.
    8. Costa-Campi, M.T. & Duch-Brown, N. & García-Quevedo, J., 2014. "R&D drivers and obstacles to innovation in the energy industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 20-30.
    9. Adam B. Jaffe & Karen Palmer, 1997. "Environmental Regulation And Innovation: A Panel Data Study," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(4), pages 610-619, November.
    10. Brutschin, Elina & Fleig, Andreas, 2016. "Innovation in the energy sector – The role of fossil fuels and developing economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 27-38.
    11. Nemet, Gregory F. & Kammen, Daniel M., 2007. "U.S. energy research and development: Declining investment, increasing need, and the feasibility of expansion," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 746-755, January.
    12. Hu, Mei-Chih & Mathews, John A., 2005. "National innovative capacity in East Asia," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1322-1349, November.
    13. Sgouris Sgouridis & Denes Csala, 2014. "A Framework for Defining Sustainable Energy Transitions: Principles, Dynamics, and Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(5), pages 1-22, May.
    14. Sterlacchini, Alessandro, 2012. "Energy R&D in private and state-owned utilities: An analysis of the major world electric companies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 494-506.
    15. Solomon, Barry D. & Krishna, Karthik, 2011. "The coming sustainable energy transition: History, strategies, and outlook," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7422-7431.
    16. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin, 2008. "National innovation systems, capabilities and economic development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1417-1435, October.
    17. Noailly, Joëlle & Ryfisch, David, 2015. "Multinational firms and the internationalization of green R&D: A review of the evidence and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 218-228.
    18. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    19. Kim, Jihwan & Kim, Yeonbae & Flacher, David, 2012. "R&D investment of electricity-generating firms following industry restructuring," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 103-117.
    20. Keith M. Carlson & Roger W. Spencer, 1975. "Crowding out and its critics," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 57(Dec), pages 2-17.
    21. Baccini, Leonardo & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2012. "Legislative fractionalization and partisan shifts to the left increase the volatility of public energy R&D expenditures," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 45571, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    22. John P. Holdren, 2006. "The Energy Innovation Imperative: Addressing Oil Dependence, Climate Change, and Other 21-super-st Century Energy Challenges," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 1(2), pages 3-23, April.
    23. 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.
    24. Juan Alcácer & Wilbur Chung, 2007. "Location Strategies and Knowledge Spillovers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(5), pages 760-776, May.
    25. Jean-Luc Gaffard & Evens Salies (ed.), 2010. "Innovation, Economic Growth and the Firm," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13101.
    26. Kim, Jung Eun, 2014. "Energy security and climate change: How oil endowment influences alternative vehicle innovation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 400-410.
    27. Painuly, J.P, 2001. "Barriers to renewable energy penetration; a framework for analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 73-89.
    28. Furman, Jeffrey L. & Porter, Michael E. & Stern, Scott, 2002. "The determinants of national innovative capacity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 899-933, August.
    29. Paroma Sanyal & Linda R. Cohen, 2009. "Powering Progress: Restructuring, Competition, and R&D in the U.S. Electric Utility Industry," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 41-80.
    30. Quadrelli, Roberta & Peterson, Sierra, 2007. "The energy-climate challenge: Recent trends in CO2 emissions from fuel combustion," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5938-5952, November.
    31. Liu, Xiaohui & Buck, Trevor, 2007. "Innovation performance and channels for international technology spillovers: Evidence from Chinese high-tech industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 355-366, April.
    32. Baccini, Leonardo & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2012. "Legislative fractionalization and partisan shifts to the left increase the volatility of public energy R&D expenditures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 49-57.
    33. Garrone, Paola & Grilli, Luca, 2010. "Is there a relationship between public expenditures in energy R&D and carbon emissions per GDP? An empirical investigation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5600-5613, October.
    34. Horbach, Jens, 2008. "Determinants of environmental innovation--New evidence from German panel data sources," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 163-173, February.
    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. Kassouri, Yacouba, 2022. "Fiscal decentralization and public budgets for energy RD&D: A race to the bottom?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    2. Dejan Ravšelj & Aleksander Aristovnik, 2020. "The Impact of R&D Expenditures on Corporate Performance: Evidence from Slovenian and World R&D Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, March.
    3. Letizia Tebaldi & Barbara Bigliardi & Eleonora Bottani, 2018. "Sustainable Supply Chain and Innovation: A Review of the Recent Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-29, October.

    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. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p4oq2cqb0 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Nesta, Lionel & Vona, Francesco & Nicolli, Francesco, 2014. "Environmental policies, competition and innovation in renewable energy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 396-411.
    3. Wang, Nan & Mogi, Gento, 2017. "Deregulation, market competition, and innovation of utilities: Evidence from Japanese electric sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 403-413.
    4. María Teresa Costa‐Campi & Néstor Duch‐Brown & José García‐Quevedo, 2019. "Innovation strategies of energy firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(5), pages 1073-1085, September.
    5. Costa-Campi, M.T. & Duch-Brown, N. & García-Quevedo, J., 2014. "R&D drivers and obstacles to innovation in the energy industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 20-30.
    6. Costa-Campi, M.T. & Duch-Brown, N. & García-Quevedo, J., 2014. "R&D drivers and obstacles to innovation in the energy industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 20-30.
    7. Enrique Loredo & Nuria Lopez-Mielgo & Gustavo Pineiro-Villaverde & María Teresa García-Álvarez, 2019. "Utilities: Innovation and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-13, February.
    8. María Teresa Costa-Campi & Jose García-Quevedo, 2017. "Why do manufacturing industries invest in energy R&D?," Working Papers 2017/20, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    9. Nesta, Lionel & Vona, Francesco & Nicolli, Francesco, 2014. "Environmental policies, competition and innovation in renewable energy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 396-411.
    10. Jing Huang & Linda Krull & Rosemarie Ziedonis, 2020. "R&D Investments and Tax Incentives: The Role of Intra‐Firm Cross‐Border Collaboration," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(4), pages 2523-2557, December.
    11. Sterlacchini, Alessandro, 2012. "Energy R&D in private and state-owned utilities: An analysis of the major world electric companies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 494-506.
    12. Inglesi-Lotz, R., 2019. "Energy research and R&D indicators: An LMDI decomposition analysis for the IEA Big 5 in energy research," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    13. Jamasb, Tooraj & Pollitt, Michael G., 2015. "Why and how to subsidise energy R+D: Lessons from the collapse and recovery of electricity innovation in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 197-205.
    14. Shouro Dasgupta & Enrica De Cian & Elena Verdolini, 2016. "The Political Economy of Energy Innovation," Working Papers 2016.35, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    15. Evens Salies & Lionel Nesta, 2010. "Libéralisation et dépôts de brevets verts des utilités électriques en Europe," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01069447, HAL.
    16. Vasilyev, Peter Petrovich (Васильев, Петр Петрович) & Kharchenko, Lana Ivanovna (Харченко, Лана Ивановна), 2019. "Scientific And Technological Breakthrough As An Imperative Of Modernization Of The Country'S Labor Potential [Научно-Технологический Прорыв Как Императив Модернизации Трудового Потенциала Страны]," State and Municipal Management Scholar Notes, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 3, pages 85-92.
    17. Fabrizi, Andrea & Guarini, Giulio & Meliciani, Valentina, 2018. "Green patents, regulatory policies and research network policies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6), pages 1018-1031.
    18. Gandenberger, Carsten, 2018. "The globalisation of corporate R&D: Evidence from German environmental technology companies," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S14/2018, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    19. Riccardo Crescenzi & Arnaud Dyèvre & Frank Neffke, 2022. "Innovation Catalysts: How Multinationals Reshape the Global Geography of Innovation," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 98(3), pages 199-227, May.
    20. Burger, Christoph & Weinmann, Jens, 2015. "Innovation performance of the US American and European electricity supply industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 351-359.
    21. Valeria Costantini & Francesco Crespi & Alessandro Palma, 2015. "Characterizing the policy mix and its impact on eco-innovation in energy-efficient technologies," SEEDS Working Papers 1115, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Jun 2015.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:4:p:617-:d:95887. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.