Â鶹´«Ã½

This seminar will be held in a hybrid format. To join this seminar online, please register through this link: 

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing interest among academics and practitioners in policies that aim to phase out unsustainable technologies. While there are normative calls for the introduction of such policies, and their use in real-world policymaking is increasing, their implementation remains controversial because it is less understood how they affect key actors for technological change, such as incumbents. To shed more light on this highly relevant question, we conducted a qualitative case study to analyze how the recent EU-level decision to effectively forbid new registrations of internal combustion engine vehicles as of 2035 affects incumbent car makers in their adaptation to technological change. We offer original insights into the channels through which phase-out policies affect incumbents’ adaptation and show how firm-level factors shape policy effectiveness. By highlighting that phase-out policies drive and facilitate incumbent adaptation, we propose that these policies are highly effective in accelerating transitions and are not as incumbent-unfriendly as one might assume. Instead, the policy is an effective means of overcoming multiple internal and external sources of inertia that increase the likelihood that incumbents will well survive technological change. However, great care should be taken in designing a phase-out policy and complementary policies for alternative technologies to ensure policy credibility.

Biography

Hauke Luetkehaus is a postdoctoral researcher in the Management Research Group at the Carl von Ossietzky Â鶹´«Ã½ of Oldenburg, Germany. Previously, he was a PhD student in the group and a scholarship holder of the German Federal Environmental Foundation. During his PhD, he visited the Sustainability and Technology Group at ETH Zurich. Hauke's dissertation examines the impact of policy instruments on the adaptation of incumbent firms to technological change, with a particular focus on the automotive industry. His research interests lie at the intersection of strategic management, sustainable innovation and public policy.

Back to event list

By: Ruby Loughman
Last updated: Friday, 13 September 2024