Energy policy stringency and green digital energy start-ups

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:This paper offers cross-country panel evidence on the differential effects of energy policy instruments on start-up creation and financing, useful for policy evaluation researchers.

🏢実務担当者:Corporate sustainability teams can use these findings to understand how policy stringency shapes investment opportunities in green energy startups.

🏛政策担当者:Policymakers can leverage the decomposition of policy instruments to design more effective energy transition policies that support entrepreneurship and scaling.

Purpose. The purpose of this article is to determine the impact of energy policy stringency and its individual instruments on the development and financing of green and digital energy start-ups. Methodology. The study applies panel data analysis for 47 countries over 2000–2023, covering 1,128 country-year observations. The empirical base combines data from the International Energy Agency and the OECD Energy Policy Stringency Index. Two-way fixed-effects models with Driscoll–Kraay standard errors are used to assess the effects of aggregate and disaggregated policy indicators. Dynamic specifications with one- and two-period lags are also estimated, while logarithmic transformations are applied to reduce skewness and zero-inflation in start-up and funding variables. Findings. The results show that stricter energy policy environments positively affect entrepreneurial activity and investment in green and digital energy sectors. A one-unit increase in the Energy Policy Stringency Index is associated with 8.5 % growth in green start-ups and 11.2 % growth in digital start-ups. The effect on financing is stronger: early-stage green funding increases by 308 %, later-stage green funding by 263 %, while early- and later-stage digital funding rise by 268 and 188 %, respectively. Decomposition results reveal substantial heterogeneity across policy instruments. Feed-in tariffs, renewable auctions and renewable certificates show the strongest positive effects, especially on later-stage financing. Dynamic estimates confirm the persistence of these effects over time. Originality. The study provides cross-country evidence on how aggregate and individual energy policy instruments affect green and digital energy start-ups. It shows that policy stringency mainly influences investment and scaling rather than start-up entry alone. Practical value. The findings can help policymakers, regulators and innovation agencies design balanced energy-transition policies that support investment, scaling and sustainable entrepreneurship.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.33271/nvngu/2026-3/235first seen 2026-07-19 04:44:48