Abstract
The paper tests empirically whether various types of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) adoption and other innovation practices (techno-organisational change and training courses) are complementary inputs with respect to the adoption of specific environmental innovations (EI). The analysis is based on original survey data for a large industrial Italian region (Emilia-Romagna), which offer various views on ICT and EI relationships. This survey contains information on the adoption of environmental innovations and some detailed information on ICT issues and other technological-organisational processes. Our main findings suggest that, overall, complementarity does not seem to characterize the relationship between ICT and other innova-tion processes as a force behind environmental innovation, but some important exceptions emerge. Complementarities exists, for instance, between technological innovation and both adoption of ICT management systems and ICT for cooperation with clients. Interestingly, restricting the analysis to a sub-sample of more polluting firm, both complementarity and substitutability emerge more evidently.
Highlights
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), eco innovations and complementarityThe advancement to a greener and more competitive economy is possible only if all components of social welfare are taken into account by firms, stakeholders and policy makers
This paper show that potential complementarity between a general purpose technologies like ICT and other drivers of eco-innovation may exist, but they are still not exploited to a great extent
The paper enriches the evidence around eco innovation adoption by firms by introducing the role of ICT as a main correlated factor
Summary
When data availability permits it, the research hypothesis to target would be whether the more diffuse and intense – not just present – is the ICT adoption in a firm, the more likely is that EI and ICT will be correlated and integrated in the firm’s innovative strategy Building upon this framework, this paper investigates empirically whether various types of ICT adoption and other potential factors influencing eco-innovation are complementary inputs in the diffusion of EI. The existence of complementarity in this context has relevant consequences for both firms strategies and policy makers, and suggest that investment in general purpose technologies like ICTs increases the return of other innovation practices when it comes to incentivizing the adoption of eco-innovation. We focus here on the side of innovation co-factors, leav- ing to future research the assessment of Innovation effects on economic performances (Costantini, Mazzanti 2012)
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