EPG Seminar Series

Edmund J. Malesky (Duke University)

Green industrial policy is gaining momentum globally. While academic research has largely focused on government investments in the energy transition, less attention has been paid to whether and how policy can influence millions of existing firms to adapt their business models to minimize environmental harm. This paper examines how individual firms in a major developing country adopt greener practices—ranging from small steps like reducing paperwork and monitoring energy use to major shifts, such as installing renewable energy systems or producing green products. Using data from the Vietnam Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI), which provides detailed information on the environmental decisions of both foreign and domestic firms in Vietnam, we find significant investment in green activities, albeit with notable variation. We find strong evidence that national and subnational governments as an anchored buyer motivates firms toward adopting greener practices, especially when they expect green firms will be prioritized or given a premium in the procurement process. Firms involved in government procurement are not only more likely to engage in green activities, but their actions are also significantly motivated by the perception that provincial governments prioritize environmental considerations in procurement decisions and are willing to pay a premium for goods and services from green firms. Based on such correlations, we use a border regression discontinuity design to examine the causal effects of green procurement policy across different provinces. Our findings have important implications for the role of governments in serving as an anchor for firm green investments and activities.

Amanda Kennard (Stanford University)

Despite extreme vulnerability to the climate crisis, nearly half of African survey respondents report never having heard of climate change. This knowledge gap undermines adaptation and political accountability. Expansion of high-speed internet may lead to gains in climate knowledge, but these gains are unlikely to be evenly distributed across the population. We combine Afrobarometer survey data with locations of new high-speed internet infrastructure to study how changes in internet affordability shape citizen learning about climate change. Using a difference-in-differences design, we show that exposure to newly active internet infrastructure increases climate knowledge. These gains, however, are concentrated among wealthy, economically-secure respondents. Moreover, knowledge gains are moderated by economic exposure to the climate transition: we find no effects among respondents living in proximity to coal deposits. These results highlight both the promise and limits of digital connectivity for broad-based climate awareness in low-information contexts.

19th March 2026

Not in My Basement! The Political Economy of Public Backlash to Climate Policy
Niklas Kramer (Freie Universität Berlin)

Attitudinal Backlash against the Green Transition: Evidence from the UK Coal Phase-Out
Annika Schuster (University of Salzburg)

5th March 2026

Potemkin Disclosure: Firms Strategically Use Transparency to Avoid Climate Regulation
Jonas Fischer (University of Oxford)

From Competition to Complementarity: How 41 Climate Clubs Align with the Paris Agreement
Florentine Koppenborg (Technical University of Munich)

4 December 2025

Performing Decarbonization
Anthony Calacino (University of Oxford)

When do Congressmembers Break the Party Line on Climate Policy? The Significant Impact of Employment in High-Emitting IndustriePeter Wyckoff (LSE)

20 November 2025

Technocratic or Political? The Effect of Partisanship on Drought Responses in France
Rens Chazottes with Nina Lopez-Uroz (EPFL)

Climate Change and Electoral Behaviour: Evidence from Extreme Weather Events in Costa Rica
Alvaro Zuniga-Cordero (University of Namur & World Inequality Lab)

30 October 2025

The Political Economy of Climate Finance: Information, Incentives, and Institutional Delay
Fiona Bare (Princeton University)

Fairness or Familiarity? How Redistribution and Existing Policies Shape Public Acceptance of Carbon Taxation
Oliver Prinzing (University of Lucerne)

16 October 2025

Energy Transitions and Political Transformation: Evidence from the Shale Oil Revolution
Christian Baehr (Princeton University)

Climate Change and the Economic Geography of Political Conflict
Lisa Dellmuth (Stockholm University)

3 April 2025

Green industrial policy in the voting booth: The electoral effects of the Inflation Reduction Act
Aidan Miao (University College London)

Politics of the energy transition: a case study of electric vehicles policy from South Asia
Anum Mustafa (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

20 March 2025

How Politics Percolates Through Science
Dahyun Choi (Princeton University)

Social Discontent and Populist Backlashes in Europe's Green Transition
Mahir Yazar (University of Bergen)

13 March 2025

Political signaling drives China's carbon market, not market signals
Chen Xiang (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

Natural Disasters and the Electability of Women: Evidence from Philippine Mayoral Elections
Holly Jansen (University of California San Diego)

6 March 2025

Greening in Groups: Firm Concentration and Lobbying on Green Industrial Policy
Ryan Pike (Yale University)

Supply Chains and Political Strategies: Analyzing Firm Responses to the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
Lingbo Zhao (Penn State University)

20 February 2025

Do climate events drive support for climate change policies?
Cèlia Estruch-Garcia (University of Barcelona)

Safety Net or Self Reliance? U.S. Public Opinion on Federal Aid After Natural Disasters
Angie Jo (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Rachael Kha (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

5th December 2024

Climate Change, Political Conflict, and Democratic Resilience
Austin Beacham (Georgia Institue of Technology), Christina J. Schneider (UCSD), and Emilie M. Hafner-Burton (UCSD)

Chasing the Sun: The Political Economy of Solar Industry Investment in the Global South
Ishana Ratan (UC Berkeley)

21st November 2024

Towards an environmental welfare state? Protecting populations against environmental risks and disasters in the age of the climate crisis.
Lydie Cabane (Leiden University) and Anne Laure Beaussier (Sciences Po)

The Role of Social Protection for a Just Transition in Developing and Emerging Economies
Katrin Gasior (Southern African Social Policy Research Insights)

7th November 2024

More than Symbols : The Effect of Symbolic Policies on Climate Policy Support
Théodore Tallent (Sciences Po), Malo Jan (Sciences Po), and Luis Sattelmayer (Sciences Po)

Cost, Risk, and Threat: The Material & Contextual Factors Driving Climate Policy Preferences
Max Bradley (EUI)

24th October 2024

Does Warm Weather Cool Voters Down? How Temperature Fluctuations Impact Voting and Climate Concerns
Maria Cotofan (King's College London) Karly Kuralbayeva (King's College London), and Konstantinos Matakos (King's College London and Harvard)

Measuring Climate Change Salience in Political Manifestos: A Computational Text Analysis Approach
Mary Sanford (RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment)