Nghiên cứu sinh Đỗ Thị Hà Anh bảo vệ luận án tiến sĩ
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE DISSERTATION
Dissertation title: Renewable energy policies, governance quality and economic growth
Specialization: Economics (E-PhD) Specialization code: 9310101
PhD candidate: Do Thi Ha Anh
Supervisor(s): Prof.Dr. Le Quang Canh
Institution: National Economics University
Original contributions on academic and theoretical aspects
This dissertation develops an analytical framework linking renewable energy policies (REP), governance quality (GQ), and economic growth (EG) using panel data from 140 countries (2010–2023). It makes three main theoretical contributions to the literature on renewable energy and economic growth. Firstly, the dissertation reconceptualizes the policy-governance nexus that policy and institutions are uniformly complementary. It develops a non-linear, threshold-dependent framework in which governance quality conditions the effectiveness of renewable energy policy in promoting economic growth. Within this framework, governance quality functions as a binding constraint, a complementary factor, or a substitute for policy interventions, depending on governance quality thresholds. Secondly, the dissertation further extends endogenous growth theory by framing renewable energy consumption as a mechanism of factor-augmenting technical change, rather than a standard production input. Renewable energy consumption functions as the key transmission channel linking policy interventions to structural transformation and productivity improvements. Thirdly, these refinements establish a governance-contingent paradigm, offering a more precise theoretical framework for understanding how institutional factors shape energy transitions.
Recommendations derived from the findings of the dissertation
Several policy recommendations can be derived from the findings, emphasizing the importance of context-specific and governance-contingent strategies. Firstly, countries with moderate levels of development and implementation capacity are likely to obtain the highest growth benefits from renewable energy expansion, suggesting that international climate finance should be more strategically allocated toward these economies rather than concentrated in saturated economies. In developing countries, policy effectiveness depends less on regulatory complexity and more on administrative simplicity, consistency, and implementation capacity. Secondly, strengthening governance quality should therefore be prioritized to ensure that policy frameworks translate into actual energy deployment. In contrast, countries with strong governance systems can increasingly rely on market-based mechanisms to guide energy investments, reducing the need for complex policy intervention. Finally, advanced economies should shift their focus from expanding domestic installation capacity toward technological innovation and global knowledge diffusion to sustain long-term productivity gains.
