Ph.D. Title: Policy Entrepreneurship And State Corporatism: Interactions Among Policy Actors And The Acceleration Of Solar Energy In China’s Provinces
Ph.D. Title: Policy Entrepreneurship and State Corporatism: Interactions among Policy Actors and the Acceleration of Solar Energy in China’s Provinces
Since President Xi Jinping proposed China's energy revolution strategy in 2014, both central and local government agencies have been actively involved in accelerating renewable energy development and advancing the energy transition. Given the pivotal role of provinces in China’s political system, examining how they contribute to accelerating renewable energy development and facilitating the energy transition is of particular significance. This doctoral research takes solar energy as a case to investigate the drivers of provincial variation in renewable energy development. It asks: what factors shape solar expansion at the provincial level, and why do provinces differ in the speed of solar energy development? Provinces have their own distinct policy subsystems, comprising unique clusters of state and non-state actors. These policy actors interact within an authoritarian political context, influencing the formulation and implementation of solar energy policies. This study aims to explain how such interactions between provincial authorities and non-state actors lead to divergent outcomes in provincial solar energy development.
This research employs the actor-centered institutionalism framework in combination with an analysis of China’s fragmented authoritarian political system. It focuses on examining how provinces integrate with the national development strategy to secure additional action resources for solar energy development, as well as on the interactions between provincial officials, energy enterprises, and industry associations. On the one hand, it examines how the fragmented authoritarian structure of China’s political system conditions the resources available to local policy actors and shapes the interests they pursue. On the other hand, it explores how provincial policy actors, particularly government officials and energy industry actors, interact to drive innovative practices and accelerate the development of solar energy in provinces. The study focuses on the varying interaction patterns among policy actors in provincial solar energy development within China’s fragmented authoritarian context.