The formation of feed-in tariffs and the emergence of wind power in Finnish routine corporatism

Favoring the Economics of Large-Scale Energy Production

Bibliographic Data

ID7763597
AuthorsHanna-Mari Husu (0000-0002-8278-0949, Department of Social Sciences, The University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland, corresponding author), Miikka Salo (0000-0002-6779-1121, Department of Social Sciences, The University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland)
Year2022
Volume31
Issue3
Pages478-497
Publication date2022-04-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironmental Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0964-4016 • E-ISSN: 1743-8934
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09644016.2021.1926774
OpenAlexW3159998694
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited52

We explore the role and influence of the Finnish energy elite’s inner circle in the process of transition to renewable energy. Finland is a corporatist country where economic interest groups have privileged access to government decision-making circles. These dense networks reproduce decades-long energy policy structures that have always favored centralized electricity production, a model now implemented in renewable energy production. We address the formation of feed-in tariffs (FITs, a government subsidy for electricity produced by renewable energy) in Finland’s routine corporatist system between 2006 and 2011. The views of inner-circle actors expressed in formal government documents correspond to legislative outcomes regarding FITs. They preferred market-based solutions and cost-efficiency and transferred the costs of FITs to the state budget, which benefited large companies. This was partly possible because Finland’s corporatist energy policy model excludes non-inner-circle actors. Nevertheless, FITs have enabled the growing significance of wind power

Corporatism · Economic system · Economics · Electricity · Energy policy · Energy transition · Legislature · Market economy · Microeconomics · Political science · Politics · Renewable energy · Subsidy · Wind power · Climate Change Policy and Economics · Innovation Policy and RD · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance

Tools

Open DOI