Environmental policy vs. public pressure: Innovation and diffusion of alternative bleaching technologies in the pulp industry

Who Drives the Transition to a Renewable-Energy Economy? Multi-Actor Perspective on Social Innovation

“…Although some scholars consider that the roles and functions of civil society in transition are not clearly defined [56] or are negative [57], the public can aspire toward green living and sustainability, which is normally triggered by societal awareness of environmental and sustainability issues. Such public concerns provide a normative message that the society socially accepts [41,58] and diffuses [59] renewable energy innovation; supports and encourages the use of energy generated from renewable sources [60]; demands and pushes for changes in the sensitivity of economic agents toward environmental solutions [59,61]; and lobbies and protests to unsettle the regime and to influence the policies and procedures of other players [59,62]. According to Avelino and Wittmayer [63], in doing so, civil society actors take the initiative in seeking opportunities to support the ongoing transition to a renewable-energy economy, which in turn tends to boost the formation of public discourse, promote social consensus (or the formation of social norms) on the issue and promote a variety of efforts that are required for transitioning toward social betterment.…”

Effect of Environmental Regulation Stringency on the Pulp and Paper Industry

“…The pulp and paper industry is also a big emitter of effluents which may be included in an optimal construction of R, but unfortunately this has not been possible due to a lack of reliable data. An argument against the inclusion of water pollutants in the construction of the regulatory stringency measure is that it is not fully clear whether the reduction of such emissions has also been driven by market-related considerations [62]. Evidence in favor of the hypothesis of regulation-induced technological change with respect to mitigation of water pollutants is given in [63].…”

In Persuit of Eco-innovation. Drivers and Consequences of Eco-innovation at Firm Level

“…Furthermore, the executives from the conducted interviews add that regulations are not just compelling companies to introduce green practices and thus presenting constraints to them but also act as a "caution for avoiding risks of activity breakdown, money losses or damage to the company image" (Dangelico and Pujari 2010, 474). Related to the findings of Popp et al (2011), results indicate that regulations play a role in both development and diffusion of environmental technologies (pertaining to the alternative bleaching technologies in the pulp industry). Environmental regulation may force companies to realize economically benign environmental innovation, because companies are generally not able to recognize cost-saving potentials such as energy or material savings (Porter and van der Linde 1995b;Horbach 2008;Belin et al 2011).…”

“…Market demand is critical in today's business environment, because consumers require products to be produced in an environmentally friendly way (Chiou et al 2011). Other researchers (Popp, Hafner, and Johnstone 2011) emphasize the consumer demand and expose the fact that most of the early demand regarding the reduction of chlorine during the production process derived from consumers. Companies that believe that customers expect environmentally friendly products also show a greater likelihood to eco-innovate (Doran and Ryan 2012).…”