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SovacoolWalter-The Political Economy of Hydroelectricity-Final.pdf (700 kB)

Internationalizing the political economy of hydroelectricity: security, development, and sustainability in hydropower states

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posted on 2023-06-09, 13:37 authored by Benjamin SovacoolBenjamin Sovacool, Götz Walter
Our study offers a comparative assessment of the economic, sociopolitical, and environmental implications of the world’s largest source of renewable electricity, hydropower. Theorists from many disciplines have questioned both the proper role and ostensible benefits from the generation of electricity from large-scale hydroelectric dams. In this study, we use 30 years of World Bank data from 1985 to 2014 and a research design with three mutually exclusive reference classes of countries: major hydropower producers, members of OPEC, and all other countries. This is precisely so our analysis moves away from “dam-centric” or single case study approaches to comparative analysis at the international scale. We examine and test six separate hypotheses related to (a) military conflict, (2) poverty, (3) economic growth, (4) public debt, (5) corruption, and (6) greenhouse gas emissions. Our analysis lends statistical support to the idea that there is such a thing as a “hydroelectric resource curse,” although effects were not always significant and varied from small, medium to large. The possible benefits of hydroelectricity—improved energy access, economic development, positive spillover effects—are real, but they are all too frequently constrained. Planners, investors, and researchers may therefore need to rethink their underlying assumptions about how they evaluate hydropower’s risk.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Review of International Political Economy

ISSN

0969-2290

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Department affiliated with

  • SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2018-06-01

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2020-05-13

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2018-06-01

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