Technological sovereignty and strategic dependencies: The case of the photovoltaic supply chain

Abstract

This study investigates the international Photovoltaic Supply Chain (PVSC) from the perspective of the recent literature on Strategic Dependencies and Technological Sovereignty. In so doing, the paper fills existing literature gaps by providing: i) a fine-grained long-term analysis of the PVSC, considering all its segments and integrating production and technology dimensions; ii) detailed evidence of the changing hierarchical relationships within the supply chain; iii) an analysis of the drivers of strategic dependencies in the PVSC in different economic areas. Focusing on China, the EU, Japan, South Korea, and the US over the 2007–2021 period, the empirical evidence highlights the existence of strong strategic dependencies in the EU, especially in the mid and downstream segments of the PVSC. A similar, and in some cases even worse, situation is found in the US, although some diversification of the portfolio of suppliers, especially in the downstream, has been emerging in more recent years. These results have relevant implications in terms of policy theory with specific reference to EU and US initiatives in the field of industrial policies for sustainable transition.