The Case of Municipal Decision Making and Wind Power Development in Sweden
Democratic principles and the energy transition The case of municipal decision making and wind power development in Sweden By: Sania Valivand Supervisor: Mats Nilsson Södertörn University | Department of Economics Master’s dissertation 30 credits Economics | Spring semester 2021 (Economics Master´s Programme 120 credits) Abstract The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate if the municipal decision on wind power development can be explained by a model including socioeconomic variables and proxies for the natural environment, using a pooled cross-section data set for Swedish municipalities for the period 2010-2019. The study poses the question whether politicians' decisions-making can be explained by socioeconomic factors. In order to analyse the approving or denying of wind power development in Swedish municipalities, three models are used: the linear probability model, the probit and the logit model. The results show that the Green political party (positively affecting wind power development) and that the unemployment rate, income, population density, protected areas and the affiliations with the Sweden Democrats (negatively affecting the approval rate), has a statistical significant effect on the permission process. Installed capacity of wind power plants seemingly have no impact. Our findings suggest that the municipal decision making is less random than the critics of the municipal veto proposes. Keywords: Municipal decision, wind power, municipal veto, environment, MB, socioeconomic variables, Swedish muncipalities, accepting wind power, deny project, Probit, Logit Acknowledgement I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my supervisor, Mats Nilsson, whose expertise and support was invaluable throughout this study. I could not have imagined a better advisor and mentor for my master thesis.
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