Why do local governments say no to wind power? : A public choice approach to the use of the right to veto among Swedish municipalities

Abstract: The objective of this study is to investigate the factors that affect the use of the municipalveto regarding wind power deployment in Sweden. The study employs a public choiceapproach to investigate the relationship between self-interested voters and the decisionmaking politicians. It employs a probit model specification, which is estimated employing303 municipal decisions in 129 Swedish municipalities over the period 2011-2021. Thefindings suggests that political attributes do generally not play a significant role inmunicipal veto decisions. Instead, in municipalities with high property prices there is alower probability of approval whereas it is higher in municipalities with a high share ofeducated individuals and already installed wind power. Further research is recommendedto be conducted in the future when more data is available.