Fostering technological innovation systems through adaptive policy mixes: The case of the German bioeconomy

Abstract

The transition towards a sustainable bioeconomy still faces several difficulties, which have persisted during the last decades despite the intense efforts to support the bioeconomy by introducing policy measures. This study aims to foster a systematic understanding of factors that hinder the transition towards a sustainable bioeconomy and explores how the policy mix addresses those problems. In particular, we assess how the policy mix reacts to blocking mechanisms that hinder system functioning by studying the bioeconomy in Germany through the lens of the Technological Innovation Systems. In this regard, we analyze the policy mix elements introduced between 2006 and 2024 along three core blocking mechanisms, which we labelled as: Market Uncertainty, Policy Uncertainty, and Feedstock Uncertainty. The results reveal that the policy mix reacts to the identified bottlenecks by adding new or updating existing elements over time. These measures are yet mainly soft policy instruments. The policy mix will benefit from stricter instruments to foster the transition more substantially.