A0335
Title: The diffusion of green energy narratives
Authors: Jessica Birkholz - University of Bremen (Germany) [presenting]
Philip Kerner - University of Bremen (Germany)
Abstract: What are the important factors for regional path dependence in the energy transition? The purpose is to address this question by considering the spread of shared narratives that guide expectations as a specific potential factor of regional development. Recent theories of decision-making highlight the pivotal role of narratives for actors to make investment decisions in the face of uncertain futures. Based on this theory, the focus is on how regional narratives and related uncertainties on renewable energy spread across space and time in German regions. First, to identify shared narratives, press release data is used, which provides a wide breadth of topics and a high granularity in the within-and between-region dimensions. These data are analyzed with natural language processing techniques to characterize narrative content and sentiment. Second, to assess the diffusion of these narrative measures, a spatiotemporal diffusion model is estimated that facilitates jointly estimated spatial lags, temporal lags, and common (nationwide) factors. The contribution to the literature is in several ways. First, it explores a recently discovered data source further by concentrating on specific topics relevant to renewable energy. Second, it provides an understanding of the diffusion patterns and processes of renewable energy narratives in German regions.
