Green innovation downturn: The role of imperfect competition
René Aïd,
Mohamed Bahlali and
Anna Creti
Energy Economics, 2023, vol. 123, issue C
Abstract:
We use strategic interactions to analyze the role of China’s state-subsidized production expansion in the recent downturn in solar photovoltaics innovation. To that end, we develop a dynamic game model in which N solar panel manufacturers compete in price and invest in cost-reducing research. The resulting Nash equilibrium displays an inverted U relationship between a manufacturer’s market share and its research effort. In the case where a local firm is competing against a foreign state-subsidized one, we obtain analytical and numerical results that are consistent with three stylized facts: (i) the foreign manufacturer progressively expands to become the dominant player, (ii) competition and innovation bring marginal costs down to zero, and (iii) each manufacturer’s research effort follows an increasing-then-decreasing curve. At a policy level, our model shows that national technology-push policies, such as R&D subsidies, can affect foreign innovation by changing the structure of global competition.
Keywords: Low-carbon technologies; Photovoltaics; Innovation; Imperfect competition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C61 L13 O30 Q55 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:123:y:2023:i:c:s0140988323002529
DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2023.106754
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