Title of Dissertation: national renewable energy policy

 
Table 4. 
Summary of three analyses.
 
Level
(Aspect of 
globalization) 
Research question 
Proposition 
Method 
Data 
Chapter 
Analysis 1 
Firm 
(Rise of 
multinational 
corporations) 
How have multinational 
renewable energy corporations 
affected national policies? 
Multinational renewable energy 
corporations are more likely to 
engage in policymaking for 
favorable policies under the 
challenges of the global market 
Content 
analysis 
Annual reports 
of the top 15 
solar PV 
multinational 
corporations 
Ch. 3 
Analysis 2 
Field 
(Increasing 
international 
interactions) 
How have diverse actors 
framed renewable energy trade 
issues? 
The central domestic actors of a 
renewable energy field have 
framed renewable energy trade 
issues with a traditional 
environmental frame 
Discourse 
network 
analysis 
Newspaper 
articles on the 
US-China solar 
panel trade 
Ch. 4 
Analysis 3 
Country 
(Change of market 
conditions) 
What has caused the increasing 
diversity in national renewable 
energy policies? 
The growth of domestic 
renewable energy industries has 
caused the diversification of 
national renewable energy 
policies as renewable energy 
industries have become 
globalized 
Case study 
Qualitative 
interviews, 
observations, 
archival data 
Ch. 5-7 

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26 
Case Study Method 
The details of the methods of Analysis 1 and Analysis 2 are described in Chapter 
3 and Chapter 4, respectively. Since the results of the Analysis 3 are described from 
Chapter 5 to Chapter 7, the overview of the case study method is illustrated in this 
section.
The independent variable of the case study is the growth of solar PV industry and 
the dependent variable is the change of national solar PV policies. The study identifies a 
causal chain that links the independent variable with the dependent variable. National 
solar PV policies include all the national level policies related to solar PV such as tariffs 
and industrial policies as well as the traditional support and market-based renewable 
energy policies. Globalization of solar PV industry is an intervening variable governing 
the mechanism of interactions between solar PV industry and the policies. 
To reveal the causal chain between solar PV industry and policies, process-tracing 
method is used. The process-tracing method is to “identify the intervening causal 
process—the causal chain and causal mechanism—between an independent variable and 
the outcome of the dependent variable”.
19
Process-tracing can identify whether a potential 
causal variable can be ruled out in non-perfectly matched cases. Since this research 
investigates countries, which cannot be perfectly matched cases due to each country’s 
specific political, economic, and social contexts, the method of controlled comparison, 
which requires the cases similar in every aspect but one, cannot be used. Moreover, by 
examining causal paths, it enables researchers to address the issue of equifinality, which 
19
George, Alexander L., and Andrew Bennett. 
Case Studies and Theory Development in 
the Social Sciences
. (Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2005
), 206. 

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27 
means different causal paths that lead to a similar outcome. As this research deals with 
complicated relations between industry and policy within political and economic 
contexts, process-tracing can help to reduce the threats to internal validity.
Explanation building of cases by using process-tracing requires hypothesized 
intervening steps. Figure 9 shows the hypothesized causal chain. This hypothesized 
causal chain is modified repetitively during the research process to better explain cases.