Support for Renewable Energy: The Case of Wind Power

CRC TR 224, Discussion Paper No. 390

63 Pages Posted: 27 Oct 2021 Last revised: 9 Mar 2023

See all articles by Robert Germeshausen

Robert Germeshausen

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Sven Heim

MINES ParisTech

Ulrich J. Wagner

University of Mannheim - Department of Economics

Date Written: January 18, 2023

Abstract

The rise of societal goals like climate change mitigation and energy security calls for rapid capacity growth in renewable electricity sources, yet citizens’ support is put to a test when such technologies emit negative local externalities. We estimate the impact of wind turbine deployment on granular measures of revealed preferences for renewable electricity in product and political markets. We address potentially endogenous siting of turbines with an IV design that exploits quasi-experimental variation in profitability induced by subsidies. We find that wind turbines significantly reduce citizens’ support locally, but this effect quickly fades with distance from the site. We assess policy instruments for enhancing citizens’ support for renewable energy in light of our results.

Keywords: Renewable energy, Wind power, Public support, Elections, Externalities

JEL Classification: D12, D72, Q42, Q48 Q50

Suggested Citation

Germeshausen, Robert and Heim, Sven and Wagner, Ulrich J., Support for Renewable Energy: The Case of Wind Power (January 18, 2023). CRC TR 224, Discussion Paper No. 390, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3949805 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3949805

Robert Germeshausen (Contact Author)

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1
D-68034 Mannheim, 68034
Germany

Sven Heim

MINES ParisTech ( email )

60 boulevard Saint Michel
Paris, 75006
France

Ulrich J. Wagner

University of Mannheim - Department of Economics ( email )

D-68131 Mannheim
Germany

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