Policy convergence as a multifaceted concept: the case of renewable energy policies in the European Union

Abstract

The literature on policy convergence has identified numerous facets and causal drivers of convergence. Distinguishing four dimensions of convergence (object, benchmark, drivers and directed process) helps clarify why and in what form policy convergence may occur (or not). Thus, depending on, for example, the object of analysis (policy outcome or instruments used), the same empirical case may give rise to opposing assessments. Furthermore, both economic and political drivers are necessary to account for successful policy convergence: economic convergence partly explains why countries may face similar problems, and political mechanisms explain why they might choose similar policies to solve a given problem. This article illustrates the multifaceted character of convergence for the dynamic field of renewable energy policies in the European Union. The empirical results indicate temporary convergence in the case of policy support instrument choices and conditional convergence in terms of renewable shares. However, the results suggest divergence of public R&D subsidies targeting renewables.

Explaining Policy Convergence and Divergence through Policy Paradigm Shifts: A Comparative Analysis of Agricultural Risk Governance in OECD Countries

“…A higher economic integration through lower support levels, harmonisation through the integration of agriculture in the GATT agreement and international communication through advice by international organisations like the OECD were important factors that explained policy convergence in the past. Similar to other studies of recent years (Horridge and Rokicki 2018;Strunz et al 2018), this investigation shows that the existence of relevant social mechanisms do not necessarily result in policy convergence. Therefore, the convergence argument fails to explain policy developments in the agricultural sector.…”

Internal network structures as opportunity structures: control and effectiveness in the European competition network

“…Yet by assessing convergence through similarity in national provisions alone, other processes might be overlooked. Furthermore, bringing about regulatory convergence is a long-term process (Strunz, Gawel et al 2017), which benefits from trustbased collaborative relationships developed over time (Leifeld and Schneider 2012, Danielsen and Yesilkagit 2014, James and Christopoulos 2018. It is surprising, therefore, that the regulators' own assessment of the network's advantages and limitations regarding convergence habitually falls outside the analytical toolkit of scholars.…”

Government support to renewable energy R&D: drivers and strategic interactions among EU Member States

“…The literature review in Section 2 suggested that the presence of divergence versus convergence in the context of government renewable R&D efforts largely remains an empirical question. In order to study this specific policy convergence/divergence case (see also Strunz et al 2018), we build on methodological approaches and concepts developed in the green growth literature. For instance, Brock and Taylor (2010) and Ordás Criado, Valente, and Stengos (2011) expand on Solow (1956), and outline theoretical models, which predict that growth in carbon dioxide emissions depends on the initial level of these emissions as well as on economic output (see Brännlund, Karimu, and Söderholm [2017] for an empirical application).…”

“…For these reasons, bottom-up processes of convergence, i.e. an independent increase in policy similarity across the Member States, could substitute for the lack of additional supranational harmonization (Kitzing, Mitchell, and Morthorst 2012;Strunz et al 2018).…”

“…The empirical investigation builds on the literature on policy convergence (Strunz et al 2018;Holzinger, Knill, and Arts 2008;Bennett 1991), the latter understood as the increase in policy similarity over time. Methodologically, however, we depart from approaches and concepts in the so-called green growth literature (Brock and Taylor 2010).…”