Suchergebnisse

The current use of fossil fuels for the purpose of energy and materials production creates a number of pressing sustainability problems, such as climate change. Therefore, the fossil fuel system is in need of a fundamental transformation. However, despite this need, the targets set by policy makers, and the availability of renewable energy technologies, the fossil fuels system keeps expanding. This raises the question of why it is so difficult to move away from fossil fuels. To answer this question, this thesis focuses on both institutions and incumbents in the energy transition. The fossil fuel system is aligned with an extensive set of rules or institutions that both enable and constrain our behavior and provide meaning to our society. An important characteristic of institutions is that they provide stability and resist change. Incumbents have heavily invested in the fossil fuel system and therefore have extensive vested interests. Incumbents stand to lose a large share of their potential profits when energy production shifts towards renewable energy technologies. Therefore, it is likely that incumbents will attempt to protect their fossil fuel interests. The field of sustainability transitions has acknowledged the central role of institutions and the importance of incumbents in transition processes. However, little attention has been paid to the relationship between incumbents and institutions. This thesis focuses on how incumbents influence institutions as well as on how institutions influence incumbents. The theoretical framework consists of the institutional work and institutional logics stream within institutional theory. This thesis contains four case studies in the context of the Dutch fossil fuel system. The Netherlands was chosen for its stagnant energy transition and its many large incumbents related to fossil fuel activities. Our data collection includes interviews, newspaper articles, policy documents, annual reports, and organization websites. Analysis was conducted through categorization and ...

This research aims to identify the institutional strategies of incumbent firms with regard to sustainable energy innovations that threaten their interests. This exploratory study contributes to the multi-level perspective by providing new insights into niche–regime interaction. The focus on actor behavior in transitions is informed by literature from institutional theory and strategic management. Based on semi-structured interviews with actors and on documents related to LED lighting and biofuels in the Netherlands, this study identified a preliminary set of empirical strategies: providing information and arguments to policy makers and the general public, as well as strategically setting technical standards. Incumbents are in a position to significantly influence the innovation's development by employing these strategies; thus temporarily keeping sustainable innovation on a leash

An underexplored issue in the institutional entrepreneurship (IE) literature is the difference between incumbents and new entrants in promoting institutional change for innovative technologies. We study the IE activities: cooperation, framing, and political tactics in the case of biomethane development in the Netherlands, during 2006-2012. While for decades biogas farmers have been unable to build a supporting institutional framework, incumbents recently arranged substantial government support. Our theoretical contribution lies in defining dimensions of the three core IE activities. We present empirical evidence that new entrants and incumbents employ all three activities, but in distinct ways. Thus, the incumbents' IE activities lead to more substantial institutional change than new entrants' activities. As a consequence, production shifts from electricity to gas and the scale of installations increases. We conclude that incumbents can accelerate institutional change, however their focus on large-scale installations makes it difficult for biogas farmers to contribute to biomethane production.