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Technological and institutional change for a transition to a low carbon economy: a co-evolutionary framework

Journal article published in 2 by Timothy J. Foxon
This paper was not found in any repository; the policy of its publisher is unknown or unclear.
This paper was not found in any repository; the policy of its publisher is unknown or unclear.

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Abstract

Paper for EAEPE (European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy) 2007 Confererence: 'Economic growth, development, and institutions -lessons for policy and the need for an evolutionary framework of analysis', Porto, Portugal, November Abstract This paper develops and applies a co-evolutionary approach to the analysis of technological and institutional change required for a transition to a low carbon economy. A co-evolutionary approach combines evolutionary understanding of how the dynamics of a system arises through processes of variation, selection and retention with a causal account of interactions between systems. Following recent literature, the paper argues that a co-evolutionary analysis of interactions between technological systems, institutional frameworks and firms' strategies provides a fruitful approach to understanding long-term industrial change. Political commitments to mitigate climate change will require a radical transformation of current carbon-based energy systems, and hence technological and institutional innovation to overcome the current state of carbon lock-in. The paper argues that current policies have largely been driven by mainstream economic thinking and that this helps to explain the relative failure of policy measures introduced so far. This is illustrated by examples relating to the European carbon trading system, UK renewables policy and strategies of incumbent European electricity companies. The paper concludes by arguing that a co-evolutionary approach would provide a richer basis for informing future policy interventions to overcome carbon lock-in and promote a transition to a low-carbon energy system.