Institutions Beyond Quality: How Legislation and Execution Shape the Global Energy Transition

Institutions Beyond Quality: How Legislation and Execution Shape the Global Energy Transition | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Institutions Beyond Quality: How Legislation and Execution Shape the Global Energy Transition Kazi Sohag, Kamilla Grigorian This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7561360/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Institutions are widely acknowledged as critical to the energy transition, yet most studies rely on broad governance indicators and aggregate renewable energy shares. Here we introduce two new indices of renewable energy governance legislation and execution—based on 7,310 policy documents across 196 UNFCCC member states (1976–2024). Using annual installation data and a long-difference panel model covering 178 countries between 2000 and 2023, we show that credible legislation and rigorous execution are both necessary to accelerate renewable capacity expansion. Legislative frameworks establish long-term credibility, while execution policies generate operational momentum, though both may involve transitional frictions. Effects are strongest in the long run and differ systematically between developed and developing economies. These results demonstrate that national governance arrangements, when reinforced by international commitments such as the Paris Agreement, are decisive for scaling renewables and provide actionable guidance for strengthening both domestic and global governance of clean energy. Scientific community and society/Energy and society/Political economy of energy Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Climate-change policy Energy Legislation Execution Energy Capacity Long Difference Method Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files APPENDIX.docx nstitutions Beyond Quality: How Legislation and Execution Shape the Global Energy Transition Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7561360","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":511713950,"identity":"eccc8dfa-75a4-4b07-b956-3023a64e6581","order_by":0,"name":"Kazi Sohag","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHiA+wMDABmJ/AGI2dlK0MM4AaWEmVgsIMPOASQIa5Nt7D378csbOno+9x0za5tc2eT5mBsYPH3NwazE4cy5ZWuZGMjMbzxkz6dy+24ZtzAzMkjO34dEikWMgLfGBmY1NInebdG7PbUagFjZmXjxa5GfkGP+W+FDPwyb/dpu0Zc9te4JaGG7kmEl+uHFYgk2Cd5s0w4/biQS1GJw5Y2bNcOa4ARtP/mfL3obbyW3MjM14/SLf3mN888exanv59mOJN378uW07v7354IeP+BzGAIsOEGBsA5MN+NWDlPyAM/8QVDwKRsEoGAUjEAAAebtMlRGz+6sAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0976-2357","institution":"Ural Federal University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kazi","middleName":"","lastName":"Sohag","suffix":""},{"id":511713951,"identity":"41856450-4a73-4026-84bf-463d0fbad903","order_by":1,"name":"Kamilla Grigorian","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ural Federal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kamilla","middleName":"","lastName":"Grigorian","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-08 07:51:41","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7561360/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7561360/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":91551496,"identity":"b571df67-f875-4157-9373-7c18b3ad461a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-17 15:58:58","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":564686,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MANUSCRIPTGREENGOVERNANCE.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7561360/v1_covered_f5910ed0-0ca7-4401-9076-c104f71f7b9d.pdf"},{"id":91149554,"identity":"87471292-8296-4651-92de-2483762844d4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-12 06:49:27","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":26646,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"nstitutions Beyond Quality: How Legislation and Execution Shape the Global Energy Transition","description":"","filename":"APPENDIX.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7561360/v1/4fbec9b0836e6825967d25c7.docx"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Institutions Beyond Quality: How Legislation and Execution Shape the Global Energy Transition","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Energy Legislation, Execution, Energy Capacity, Long Difference Method","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7561360/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7561360/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Institutions are widely acknowledged as critical to the energy transition, yet most studies rely on broad governance indicators and aggregate renewable energy shares. 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