Policy Feedback Effects on Policy Change: Based on the Solar PV Policy in China

• In Event: Policy Issues in Water and Renewable Energy

Abstract

Policy Feedback Effects on Policy Change: Based on the Solar PV Policy in China
Authors: Shiming Zheng, Yue Li(presenter)

Policy feedback theory provides a unique perspective on the stability or change of policy, generated from the idea that the implementation of a policy in a specific field can in turn transform the politics associated within that field (Pierson, 1993), which has got more attention in the understanding of post-implementation policy dynamics in a wide range of areas such as welfare state dynamics and social policy. Early empirical research about policy feedback was initially concerned with explaining how positive or negative feedback could lead to self-reinforcing or self-undermining policy trajectories. More recently, policy scholars have presented more feedback pathways to endurance and change, opening a new frontier by showing that different feedback mechanisms can affect the same policy simultaneously (Béland and Schlager, 2019). In order to understanding how such trajectories occur, it is necessary to distinguish between policy feedback pathways emerging at different levels or processes of policy.

Starting from the perspective of policy feedback, the paper develops a conceptual framework for identifying relevant elements that potentially shape policy feedback through different analytical stages of the feedback pathway and chooses the support policies for solar PV (Photovoltaic) at central level in China from 2005 to 2020 as the research objects. Because of the growing concerns about the public policy problem of climate change, the application of policy feedback to climate and low-carbon energy policy has been increasing in recent years, especially the renewable energy policy. As one of the most important element of National energy strategies, the support policies for solar PV have been changed continuously with different focuses due to the actual development of solar PV in China. Through collecting the support policy documents and industry-related data of solar PV during 15 years, the paper probes the policy feedback mechanisms of renewable energy industries in China with text analysis. Following the existing notion that the policy feedback can be divided into four main categories: resource effect, interpretive effect, positive effect and negative effect, the paper distinguishes the policy feedback generated by support policies for solar PV at the level of policy instruments into resource effect effect and interpretive effect, then try to demonstrate the elements which can lead to policy changes by generating positive effect and negative effect. Firstly, applying the level of policy instruments, the processes of policy change about solar PV in China can be clearly divided into different stages, which show the policy dynamics vividly with feedback pathways to endurance and change. Secondly, based on the analysis about various effects generated by policy feedback in the field of solar PV, the paper discusses from which aspects to understand the stability and instability that has influenced the energy policy of specific areas for so long.

The possible innovations of this paper are: (1) integrating four different policy feedback mechanisms into one analytical framework, and demonstrating the policy change with the transformation of policy instruments; (2) following the opinion that different policy feedback can be observed simultaneously within the same policy trajectory, the paper attempts to outline the policy endurance and change at multi-level policy and develops the statement that the balance of feedback effects at different policy levels plays an important part in endogenous policy change theory; (3) the pathways of how policy feedback effects give rise to the causes of policy change can be explained, not only aiming at realizing the stability of the overall orientation of renewable energy policy, namely how to shape the direction of policy change in the entire policy field wisely, but also refocusing feedback research from policies of specific fields to complex policy mixes and overall policy regimes.

Key words:
Policy feedback
Policy change
Solar PV policy
Long-term policy transformation

References:
Béland, D., & Schlager, E. (2019). Varieties of Policy Feedback Research: Looking Backward, Moving Forward. Policy Studies Journal, 47(2), 184-205.

Pierson, P. (1993). When Effect Becomes Cause: Policy Feedback and Political Change, World Politics, Vol.45(4), pp.595-628.

Authors

• Shiming Zheng

• Yue Li, Jinan University