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For the Directorate Top Sectors of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK), we evaluated the effectiveness and efficiency of the Sustainable Shipbuilding Subsidy Scheme (SDS scheme) over the period 2017-2023.
The shipping and shipbuilding industries face a significant challenge to become (much) more sustainable, as legislation in this area is changing rapidly. Therefore, innovations that promote sustainability and focus on the greening of ships and shipping have become relatively more important. Ship purchasers play a key role in this process, as they will need to order and purchase more sustainable ships. Given the nature of the sector, this is a challenge. It involves capital goods with a long lifespan, and in the economically sensitive shipping industry, there is a lot of pressure on prices. This makes it difficult for ship owners to be the first to opt for ships that are more sustainable (and often more expensive to purchase).
The target group of the SDS scheme consists of Dutch shipyards used for new construction, conversion, and repair of ships, integrating demonstrably sustainable innovations into the ships they build or retrofit. The SDS thus has a dual objective, aiming to: 1) stimulate innovative sustainable technologies in shipbuilding and ship conversion, and: 2) strengthen the international competitive position of the Dutch maritime manufacturing industry. The SDS has been extended several times and has been operational for 7 years (by the end of 2023).
In addition to desk research, extensive analysis of administrative data from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), interviews, and a survey among users and non-users of the SDS scheme, we also conducted a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). QCA is a method particularly suitable for datasets with a moderate number of observations ('medium n'). It lies between case studies and large-scale data research. The method provides insights into which factors, individually or in combination, were decisive for an outcome. What is unique about this method is that it can show multiple pathways to a particular outcome, rather than assuming that there is only one causal path between intervention and outcome. This can reveal, for example, that interventions are particularly effective at shipyards with certain characteristics.
The research was presented to the House of Representatives on June 13th. Read the relevant chamber document here.
