Determinants of Eco-innovations by Type of Environmental Impact: The Role of Regulatory Push/Pull, Technology Push and Market Pull

Abstract

Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp11027.pdf Non technical summaryIn recent years, several studies have identified determinants of environmental innovations. In most econometric studies, environmental innovations in general were analyzed, some distinguish between end-of-pipe-innovations and cleaner production. Due to the lack of specific data, the existing literature on the driving forces of environmental innovations neglected the analysis of different environmental innovation types such as recycling, low carbon technologies or water management.The Community Innovation Panel (CIS) 2009 included, for the first time, a special module on eco-innovation differentiating between these specific types of environmental innovations. Analysing the German part of the CIS 2009, the main purpose of our paper is to test whether different types of environmental innovations (according to their environmental impacts) are triggered by different factors.Within our analysis, we define environmental innovations as product, process, marketing and organizational innovations leading to a noticeable reduction of environmental burdens. Positive environmental effects can be explicit goals or side-effects of innovations.In the literature, the important role of regulation and cost savings as motivations triggering eco-innovations is accentuated. In fact, a complex set of supply factors such as the endowment and availability of technological resources, company specific factors, organizational innovations, competition conditions or consumer demand have to be included in the analysis. Our empirical analysis shows that the innovation activities with high or medium environmental impacts concentrate on the reduction of energy use, CO 2 emissions and recycling whereas "older" areas such as the reduction of SO 2 or NO x emissions or water pollution that are not in the focus of present political discussions are under-represented.Except material and energy saving process innovations, regulations seem to be important for all other environmental impact areas. Especially for typically end-of-pipe oriented areas such as other air emissions (SO 2 or NO x ) the influence of present and future regulations is higher than for other areas. For innovations to reduce energy use cost-savings are the main motivation. Environmental Management Systems (EMS) seem to be especially important tools to trigger these cost-saving cleaner technologies because they help to...

SMEs and barriers to Eco-innovation in the EU: exploring different firm profiles

“…Horbach et al 2012). The main aim of this literature is to identify the specificities of eco-innovation, with respect to innovation tout court.…”

“…Del Río et al 2013;Ghisetti et al 2015) are thus particularly important and 'complement' investments made in organizational and technological capabilities (e.g. Horbach 2008; Demirel and Kesidou 2011;Horbach et al 2012). Embeddedness in (local) production systems and complementarity between different types of (eco-) innovation are also relevant emerging factors for the patterns of eco-innovation adoption by SMEs Zoboli 2005, 2009;Mazzanti et al 2008;Cainelli et al 2011).…”

“…Horbach 2008; Demirel and Kesidou 2011;Horbach et al 2012) have explored the extent to which eco-innovation is affected by more traditional drivers of innovation (in general), such as technology-push and market-pull factors. Similarly to general innovation activities, eco-innovation is also stimulated by the availability of capabilities (internal or external to the firm) in terms of knowledge stock, human capital, and organizational features (technology push), and by market stimuli in terms of 'responsible' demand from consumers, other firms, and public procurement (market pull).…”

“…Many studies analysing the drivers of eco-innovation (e.g Horbach 2008;Horbach et al 2012;Horbach et al 2013;Demirel and Kesidou, 2011). use self-reported qualitative measures of regulatory stringency but, to date, no investigation has evaluated the role played by more objective measures of regulatory stringency.…”

Policy complexity and the green transformation of the economies as an emergent system property

“…First, the compliance with the Lisbon agenda has been poor and although the Kyoto targets have been achieved, this was mainly due to the ongoing crisis (Borghesi 2011), and it is not clear whether the 20-20-20 targets will be achieved when the economy eventually recovers from the recession. Second, the link between environmental policy and eco-innovation is still at the center of economic debate which showed that the drivers of innovations in environmental technologies are multifaceted and touch upon various spheres of society and policy-making (Horbach et al 2012;Crespi 2008, 2013). Only properly designed policies can spur eco-innovations when firms believe that innovation offsets are greater than regulatory costs (Costantini and Mazzanti 2012).…”