Low-carbon technologies, national innovation systems, and global production networks: The state of play

Abstract

In this chapter we review research on public policy in low-carbon technology industries. We place particular emphasis on the implications of an important change in changes in the structure of global production – the rise of global production networks (GPNs) - for a range of issues of interest to scholars of international political economy (IPE). GPNs are an increasingly important focus of IPE (Jensen, Quinn and Weymouth 2015). The energy sector is also becoming more central to the discipline, given the high value of energy-related products traded across borders, and the importance of public policy in shaping, and being shaped by, energy supply and demand (Hughes and Lipscy 2013). This is also the case in low-carbon technologies, which are increasingly targeted by governments through public investment and other forms of public policies, and which - as we document below - are increasingly international in scope. We argue that global production networks in low-carbon technologies have particularly important implications for a core concern within the field of IPE, as also outlined in the introduction to this book (Kuzemko, Keating, and Goldthau 2017): how do policies implemented by national governments interact in a global economy characterized by profound interdependence? This question takes on greater importance in low-carbon technologies because industries based on these technologies are central to national growth and climate change. The markets for many products based on low-carbon technologies are also created as a function of government policies. While all economic markets can be understood as institutions (Polanyi 1944; Lindblom 2001), the relationship between public policies, low-carbon technologies, and political economic outcomes within and between countries is particularly close in the cases examined here. We conclude with thoughts on areas for further research in this exciting new area of study.