Do institutional quality and its threshold matter in the sensitivity of the renewable energy transition to financial development? New empirical perspectives

Abstract The transition to renewable energy is critical for environmental sustainability, consistent with sustainable development goals (SDGs) 7, 8, 11, 12, and 13 of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Scholars have identified financial development and institutional quality as significant factors determining the renewable energy transition in developing countries. This study opines that the efficiency of the financial system in supporting and providing the substantial financial implications that a switch to renewable energy necessitates depends on the quality of the institutional framework. Weak institutions in developing countries produce loopholes and inherent flaws in the financial system that facilitate corruption and opportunism, ultimately promoting dirty energy usage and technology at the expense of renewable energy. This process suggests that the interaction between financial development and institutions can either accelerate or impede the transition to renewable energy, depending on an economy's institutional architecture. Considering Africa's enormous renewable energy resources, previous research has overlooked the implications of the interplay between institutional quality and financial development in spurring Africa's transition to renewable energy. Thus, this study looks at the role of institutions in moderating the relationship between financial development and renewable energy in Africa from 1990 to 2019, using first‐ and second‐generation estimators to capture econometrics' pitfalls such as endogeneity, cross‐sectional dependence, and heterogeneity inherent in the panel dataset. This study departs from previous research in that it uses a dynamic panel threshold to determine the threshold of institutions beyond which financial development is stimulated to spur Africa's transition to renewable energy. The findings show that institutions create loopholes that allow rent‐seeking, opportunism, and sharp practices in the African financial system. These inherent flaws divert financial resources to support dirty energy and undermine the financial sector's ability to support a renewable energy transition on the continent. Also, the findings from the threshold of institutions affirm that African countries operate predominantly below the threshold of institutions, over which institutions enable financial development to expedite the continent's transition to renewable energy. The study suggests that institutional quality is essential in the relationship between financial development and Africa's shift to renewable energy. The findings' policy implications are discussed and outlined.