Author Abstract
We estimate the effect of the diffusion of photovoltaic (PV) systems on the fraction of votes obtained by the German Green Party. The logistic diffusion of PV systems offers a new identification strategy. We take first differences and instrument adoption rates (i.e., the first difference in the diffusion level) by lagged diffusion levels. The existing rationales for non-linearities in diffusion and the ubiquity of logistic curves ensure that our instrument is orthogonal to variables that directly affect voting patterns. We find that the diffusion of domestic PV systems caused 25% of the increment in green votes between 1998 and 2009.
Paper Information
- Full Working Paper Text
- Working Paper Publication Date: July 2013
- HBS Working Paper Number: 19219 (NBER)
- Faculty Unit(s): Business, Government and International Economy