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dc.rights.licenseCC-BY-NC-ND
dc.contributor.advisorFarla, J.C.M.
dc.contributor.authorWeerd, R.M.C. van de
dc.date.accessioned2013-06-25T17:01:20Z
dc.date.available2013-06-25
dc.date.available2013-06-25T17:01:20Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.identifier.urihttps://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/13115
dc.description.abstractSocio-technical transitions, like the transition towards electric vehicles, are really complex since they require creative destruction. Institutional change is at the heart of the process whereby new sustainable technologies gain ground. Current literature stresses local experiments as a solution to enable institutional change. However, the mechanisms and underlying activities through which local experimentation affects institutional change are only stated to a limiting extent in theory. Therefore, this thesis aimed to provide insights into mechanisms, activities, and related dynamics, that affect changes in institutions. Moreover, it provides initiators of experiments insights how to manage and design experiments in such a way that they enable specific institutional reforms. This qualitative research includes a case study of six experiments with EV in The Netherlands. Interviews were conducted and documents were collected that provided information on the relation between local experimentation and institutional change. From a comparative analysis of these cases it was found that eight different types of institutional change were found to be affected by a particular mechanism in more than one case. These mainly concern cognitive institutional reforms in technology, policy, and with respect to users, markets and distribution networks. Moreover, generalizations were made concerning the effect of local experiments on technology-normative and policy-regulative institutional changes. Three mechanisms were identified that affected institutional change: (1) network formation, (2) mobilization of people, and (3) learning, monitoring and problem solving. The functioning of these mechanisms were enabled by the employment of 11 different activities. From a comparison of these findings with the scientific literature, it can be concluded that current theories are not fully applicable to conceptualize the relation between local experimentation and institutional change. Current literature focuses predominantly on the functioning of mechanisms, and execution of respective activities, on the niche level. Moreover, theory states mechanisms and activities that are important for the development of niches but not directly affect institutional change. The practicability of this thesis resides in a list of activities that can be employed in order to affect specific types of institutional reforms, depending on the objective of the participant or initiator of experiments. Future studies are needed to confirm these observations as they constituted limited generalizations.
dc.description.sponsorshipUtrecht University
dc.format.extent1624392 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.titleInstitutional change through local experimentation: The case of electric vehicles in the Netherlands
dc.type.contentMaster Thesis
dc.rights.accessrightsOpen Access
dc.subject.keywordsElectric vehicles, institutional change, local experiments, socio-technical transitions, learning
dc.subject.courseuuScience and Innovation Management


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