Export Intensity, Firm Governance and Renewable Energy Transition Across Indian Manufacturing Industries

We examine the role of export intensity and firm governance in promoting the renewable energy transition of Indian manufacturing firms. Firm-level analysis of renewable energy transition is carried out in reference to six manufacturing industries during 2010–2021. The panel Tobit model is used to estimate the impact of identified variables and other firm-specific controls on renewable energy use. Positive impact of export intensity on renewable energy use is found, with the exception of the hard-to-abate sectors. Alternate measures of firm governance and institutional and foreign investor participation yield mixed results across industries. The presence of cross-sectional dependence was also tested. Robustness checks using fixed effects with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors show a consistent sign and significance of export intensity in impacting renewable energy use in the selected industries. JEL Codes: Q42, F14, Q48