Abstract

Why do coal technologies diffuse in some countries faster and to a greater extent than in others? The paper applies the lead market concept to the diffusion of supercritical coal power plants. The analysis shows that no clear lead market exists. Although the United States still has comparative advantages in terms of prices, demand and market structure, Japan has caught up in terms of transfer advantage and Germany in terms of regulation. This supports also the hypothesis that - apart from the demand-oriented lead market model - push factors such as R&D activity play a strong role as well.