EGB Re­search Se­mi­nar

Abstract: 
This paper investigates how economic structures and political-economic institutions shape the composition of green policy mixes across OECD countries, distinguishing between green market-based instruments (GMBI: carbon taxes and emissions trading schemes) and green industrial policies (GIP: technology support, renewable subsidies, public R&D). Using OECD Environmental Policy Stringency data for 1996–2020 and Mundlak Correlated Random Effects panel regressions across 28 countries, the analysis decomposes structural between-country differences from short-term within-country dynamics. Results show that export-led economies systematically adopt higher levels of GIP, while larger carbon-intensive sectors exhibit an asymmetric pattern, resisting cost-imposing instruments while tolerating compensatory industrial policies. Active labour market spending is partially associated with GIP adoption, whereas corporatist wage coordination yields no robust cross-national effect. Taken together, these findings reveal distinct political economies of carrots and sticks that aggregate stringency indices fail to capture. In a second step, the quantitative results are grounded through comparative process tracing in Germany and Denmark, tracing the coalitional and institutional mechanisms that translate structural conditions into policy divergence.

Short Bio: 
Michelangelo Moffa is a PhD candidate in Economic Sociology at the Università degli Studi di Milano (ESOL programme). His research focuses on the comparative political economy of climate policy, with a particular interest in how institutional configurations, economic structures, and distributive conflicts shape national policy mixes in the green transition. His work combines panel regression methods with qualitative comparative analysis, with a focus on advanced capitalist economies.