Entrepreneurship, Policy, and the Geography of Wind Energy

G.  Jones

Chapter | Green Capitalism? | 2017

Entrepreneurship, Policy, and the Geography of Wind Energy

Abstract

This study examines the geography of the global wind energy industry before 2000. Between 1980 and 2000, the global generating capacity of wind power grew from 13 megawatts to 17,400 megawatts, but two-thirds of that capacity was in Denmark, Germany, Spain, and the United States. Wind turbine manufacture was clustered in Denmark and the United States through to the late 1980s, when there was a sudden rise of new entrants, especially Germany. The study shows that natural resource endowment is a poor explanatory variable for this geographical skewing. Public policy was a more important factor, although its impact was nuanced. The most important policy development was in California with the adoption of feed-in tariffs, subsidies, and tax credits in the 1980s. However the poor technological capabilities of U.S.-based firms meant that it was Danish and other foreign companies that benefitted most. Subsequently the combination of public policies to grow wind energy and local manufacturer requirements provided a major stimulus for the emergence of local firms in Germany and Spain. U.S. firms were unable to develop internationally competitive products partly because of a rush to capture lucrative contracts dependent on transient public policies and partly because of a failure to develop institutional structures for the industry as a whole.

Keywords: renewable energy; wind power; entrepreneurship; Business and Government; business history; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Geography; Business and Government Relations; Policy; Business History; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Asia; Europe; United States;

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Citation:

Jones, G. "Entrepreneurship, Policy, and the Geography of Wind Energy." Chap. 12 in Green Capitalism? Business and the Environment in the Twentieth Century, edited by Hartmut Berghoff and Adam Rome, 206–231. Hagley Perspectives on Business and Culture. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017.

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Case | HBS Case Collection | June 2018 (Revised November 2019)

John Chambers, Cisco and China: Upgrading a Golden Shield

Geoffrey Jones and Emily Grandjean

This case examines the role of Cisco led by John Chambers in facilitating web filtering in China. It begins by tracing the origins of Cisco as a pioneer of networking equipment. John Chambers, who had worked as a sales manager at IBM and Wang Laboratories, joined Cisco in 1991 and became CEO in 1995. The company expanded rapidly thereafter, acquiring many firms and growing globally, including in China, where it virtually created the internet. The case explores how the firm facilitated surveillance and monitoring of the internet under the Golden Shield project launched in 2000, and in 2004 served as a key participant in the CN2 upgrade that greatly enhanced official capability to filter content online. The case ends in 2007 with Chambers announcing further capital expenditure in China but facing growing criticism by U.S. Congress and others for Cisco's human rights record. At the same time, Cisco faced a powerful domestic competitor in China, Huawei, that had grown rapidly by investing in innovation even as Cisco pursued a share buy-back campaign after experiencing a sharp fall in its share price following the end of the Dot-com bubble. The case provides a vehicle for exploring the ethical and human rights responsibilities of corporations in the technology sector, as well as the impact of the internet on democracy.

Keywords: Cisco; Internet; Governance Controls; Ethics; Rights; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Technology Industry; China;

Citation:

Jones, Geoffrey, and Emily Grandjean. "John Chambers, Cisco and China: Upgrading a Golden Shield." Harvard Business School Case 318-158, June 2018. (Revised November 2019.) View Details

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Entrepreneurship, Policy, and the Geography of Wind Energy

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