How global socio-technical regimes affect the success of low carbon innovation – The case of the industrial heat pump

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of globalized industries on the diffusion of promising radical low carbon innovations. We do so by studying the interplay of global socio-technical regimes and technological innovation systems (TIS). Building on institutional theory, we develop a theoretical framework for TIS-regime interaction and apply it to the case of the industrial heat pump (IHP) in the Netherlands. Based on a qualitative, historical analysis over the past 30 years, we show how the heat pump TIS is at odds with the global process industry regime and identify several mechanisms through which the regime’s coercive, normative and mimetic institutional pressures influence TIS dynamics. We furthermore discuss how actors respond to and strategically deal with these pressures. We show that the institutionalization of a new logic in the global regime can outpace the rate of technological development of the radical innovation, causing it to become less attractive over time even though the technology’s performance increases. The paper thus provides a better understanding of the effects of global sectoral structures on radical low carbon innovation in particular places and industries. It offers valuable insights into the dynamics of sustainability transitions, especially in regard to the (limits to) effectiveness of policy interventions geared towards a particular TIS at the national level.