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This paper analyzes the main determinants influencing environmental innovators (i.e. firms developing or adopting environmental innovations) in Spain with respect to non-environmental innovators. Similarly to other contributions in the literature, our results show that Spanish environmental innovators respond to regulatory stimulus in the form of demand-pull and technology-push instruments. They have a high internal technological capability and combine internal and external information sources, mostly in cooperation with knowledge institutions. Environmental innovators are more concentrated in mature, traditionally highly polluting sectors, but new firms are not more environmentally innovative than incumbents. Most importantly, in contrast to other environmental innovation studies, mostly carried out in a German context, we have not found evidence of a market pull from either the domestic or international markets. Furthermore, cost savings are not found to be a distinctive driver for environmental innovators. These differential results are possibly related to the special features of Spain regarding its national innovation system and the degree of stringency of environmental regulation and environmental consciousness of its consumers.

This paper analyses the main determinants influencing different types of eco-innovations and eco-innovators in Spain. We differentiate between two types of eco-innovations (process vs. product and new-to-the-market (NTM) vs. new-to-the-firm (NTF)) and two different types of ecoinnovators (large vs. small and old vs. new firms). Our findings show that new firms are not more eco-innovative and that smaller firms are certainly less eco-innovative. Although the environmental regulation variable is generally a main driver of eco-innovation, there are specific drivers for some eco-innovator and eco-innovation types. This is the case with internal innovation capabilities, which clearly influence small and new firms to eco-innovate, in contrast to large and old firms. Those capabilities are also a driver of NTM eco-innovation versus NTF eco-innovation. Involvement in external knowledge flows and cooperation is also a crucial variable for small firms to eco-innovate and a main driver of NTM versus NTF eco-innovation. Contrary to expectations, there are a few differential drivers for products vs. process eco-innovations. Energy/material cost reductions and environmental regulation influence both eco-innovation types, whereas the demand-pull from the market is absent for both, probably due to a relatively low degree of environmental consciousness and/or willingness to pay for eco-products by its consumers.

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