Abstract
Though often considered a darling success of the new green economy, wind power actually displays a fairly spotted success record globally, with deployment having progressed fitfully and unevenly over the past several decades. Conventional explanations fail to explain much of the observed variation in wind power deployment. For instance, why is it that Denmark derives 24 percent of its generating capacity from wind despite having only moderate wind resources, while the United States draws a mere 3 percent of its power from some of the best wind resources on Earth? What accounts for discrepancies like this, of which there are many? In Winds of Change, Ion Vasi begins to answer this question and, in doing so, not only tells an engaging tale from an exciting industry but also shines light on the fundamental social processes that shape industry evolution, as well as entrepreneurship and the deployment of new technologies.
Existing work in this area has drawn largely on economic and technology-based theories to explain the introduction and adoption of new technologies. According to this perspective, deployment is largely a function of supply-side factors such as relative technological performance, industry learning rates, economic policy, and market structure. Technologies enter particular markets when it is economically viable for them to do so, and the role of the underlying social fabric is either characterized abstractly as consumer preference or ignored altogether. Using the tumultuous history of the wind energy industry as a laboratory, Vasi explores the degree to which coordinated social movements and environmental advocacy transform technology and foster the creation of new industries. Although this subject has received previous academic treatment—scholars of contentious political processes in particular will recognize many of the book’s core themes—Vasi walks new ground with his careful elucidation of the mechanisms through which this impact occurs. By bringing the social movements literature into the study of market formation and industry growth, he thus provides a complementary perspective to existing accounts and identifies a promising new research agenda on the role of social movements in shaping economic and entrepreneurial activity. The key insight Vasi brings is that economic policy, consumer demand, and decisions by entrepreneurs, established firms, or the public sector to invest in wind power technologies are embedded in a social fabric. These technology and policy choices are therefore open to the influence of social movements and stakeholder activists. Scholars of entrepreneurship, social movements, and industry emergence will all find much to love in this well-written and thoroughly researched work.
The account begins with a simple heuristic model, which applies a multivariate regression to illustrate that the density of environmental organizations positively affects the development of the wind energy industry and that this effect is moderated by social context, political support, and natural resources. Although this is hardly a notable conclusion by itself, Vasi then draws on the organizations literature associated with contentious political processes and coalition formation to propose four specific pathways through which the environmental movement affects industry development. The core chapters provide case illustrations of each of these pathways and draw on more than seventy interviews with environmental activists and professionals, policymakers, and advocates, as well as a wealth of archival research. Chapter 2 explores the first pathway, in which activists successfully lobby policymakers to impose top-down economic policies that support widespread industry transformation. Chapter 3 provides counter-illustrations of less successful top-down policy implementation, detailing in vivid detail the mixed and meager results of renewable portfolio standards in the U.S., UK, and Canada. Chapter 4 addresses the second pathway, in which environmental organizations stoke consumer demand for clean energy, thus providing a bottom-up “pull” for wind power. The United States, and in particular wind power adoption decisions by college campuses and large corporations, provides the setting in which this phenomenon is explored. Chapter 5 addresses the third pathway and is potentially the book’s most innovative contribution. Working with examples from a variety of countries, Vasi shows how wind power advocates acted as critical information brokers, resource providers, and trend-setting entrepreneurs to change the tenure of the debate and the dominant industry logic among energy professionals. Discussion of the fourth pathway, in which advocates succeeded in having an impact on the formulation and implementation of international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol, are scattered throughout. Although the core chapters are modular, allowing the reader to choose the mechanisms of interest, the book flows smoothly from cover to cover.
Vasi’s primary contribution is to bring social movements into the study of market formation and industry growth. In particular, he shows that “it is not possible to fully understand the specific development of the wind energy industry without examining the environmental movement’s influence on the energy sector” (p. 186). Economists and technology theorists will benefit from the broadening of the standard technological model to explicitly include social and political influences. Political economists, perhaps more attuned to the vagaries of the policy process, will enjoy the elucidation of the linkage between activism and entrepreneurial activity. Organizational scholars will gain a lens to understand the role of social context and activist organizations in determining not only the rate but also the direction of technological innovation and entrepreneurship. Policymakers, activists, and entrepreneurs will appreciate a new perspective on why some regions succeed in developing new industries while others may fail to materialize. Moreover, the depth and richness of the case studies presented make Winds of Change an engaging account. The book tracks the social history of wind power advocacy as it evolved from raucous antinuclear rage to professional modern-day climate change organizations. Scattered throughout are vivid illustrations and anecdotes, like a community in Denmark building one of the largest wind turbines in the world from scratch.
The book’s weaknesses, like its strengths, are rooted in the methodology. Cultural and economic variation between the study sites obscures the interplay among economic, technological, and social factors. The success of the Danish environmental movement in promoting wind energy relative to the movement in Norway would seem largely due to the fact that imported oil accounted for 88 percent of Denmark’s energy consumption in the 1970s, while Norway enjoyed a well-developed hydroelectric and domestic petroleum infrastructure. The cases also occasionally lapse into glowing “great men” accounts of the individuals who helped build the industry. These shortcomings are easily forgiven, however; the technological and economic storyline for industry development is already thoroughly explored in the literature, and simplification is necessary for tractability. Vasi’s goal is to show the importance of social movements in fostering industry emergence and to elucidate the mechanisms by which change occurs. He accomplishes this goal admirably.
Moreover, by establishing social movement theory as a valid complementary lens to the existing technological and economic perspectives, Winds of Change sets forth a promising research agenda. In particular, it argues for wider consideration of social factors in industry evolution and identifies the conditions under which social movements are likely to have a substantive role in technology entrepreneurship. Scholars engaged in research settings characterized by significant activist mobilization and contentious politics might do well to consider the role of social movements. Subsequent work might also explore how these conditions interrelate or establish boundary conditions. The existing literature on stakeholder activism has concentrated primarily on actions against large firms in stable institutional settings. This analysis suggests the importance of looking at entrepreneurs, industry evolution, and unstable environments, such as emerging markets, as well. Most exciting is that Vasi demonstrates the formative role of social movements in fostering entrepreneurial activity and provides a new and fundamental contribution to our understanding of the drivers of entrepreneurship and industry creation. Exciting questions for future research thus abound. What mechanisms can social movements and stakeholders use to stimulate demand for new technologies or to create new markets? What drives the successful creation of social movements? How does the context of social movements and stakeholders’ actions set the stage for entrepreneurship and innovation? Such work might also guide social movement activists in what strategies are effective.
Overall, Winds of Change offers a fresh perspective on the phenomenon of market emergence and industry evolution and deserves a spot on the bookshelf of any scholar studying entrepreneurship, social movements, or industry emergence. It is a clever and well-researched account of a fascinating industry and adeptly illustrates the mechanisms by which social movements affect broad market transformation. Will this work fundamentally change the way we think about new markets and technologies? The answer, of course, is blowing in the wind.
Footnotes
1
Both authors contributed equally; authorship is alphabetical.