ABSTRACT
In the policy cycle of agenda-setting, policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation, implementation is a particularly complex step. For decades researchers have devoted themselves to conceptualizing and analysing policy implementation (for overviews see, for example, O’Toole Jr, 2000; Saetren, 2005). In this chapter, we attempt not to add to the theoretical depth of this literature, but to give some guidance on navigating the particular challenges posed by green industrial policy implementation. To this end, we concentrate on the choice and design of appropriate instruments as a vital part of implementation. In doing so, we draw from the insights of Johnson et al. in Chapter 2. They shed light on the question of the capabilities needed by governments to manage green rents successfully, with particular emphasis on the principle of embedded autonomy, which should be applied throughout the policy cycle, and the capability to learn and to adapt policies systematically. The choice and design of suitable policy instruments can be a major help to governments in acquiring these capabilities and in utilizing their individual strengths. Each government can thus develop its own green industrial ‘policy style’ to suit local circumstances, needs and preferences (on national policy styles, see for example Howlett, 1991). As an example, competitive bidding for preferential tariffs for renewable electricity reveals valuable information on the industry’s cost structures. It can enhance the flow of information and foster transparency, thus ensuring embeddedness while safe-guarding autonomy. Introducing a sequence of bidding windows provides an opportunity for systematic learning.
