Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP17603
Authors: Robert Germeshausen; Sven Heim; Ulrich Wagner
Abstract: Successful decarbonization requires strong growth in renewable electricity capacity. Citizens’ support for this is crucial given that these technologies emit negative externalities locally. 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. We find that wind turbines significantly reduce citizens’ support locally, but this effect quickly fades with distance from the site. We discuss recent policy proposal for enhancing citizens’ support for renewable energy in light of our results.
Keywords: renewable energy; wind power; public support; elections; externalities
JEL Codes: D12; D72; Q42; Q50
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Construction of new wind turbines (L74) | Reduction in searches for green electricity tariffs (Q48) |
| Deployment of wind turbines (L94) | Decrease in election results for the Green Party (D79) |
| Deployment of wind turbines (L94) | NIMBY attitude (R20) |