Blazing the trail: The role of digital and green servitization on technological innovation

Abstract

This paper explores the effect of digital and green servitization on firms' technological innovation performances. Drawing on the Organisational Learning Capabilities (OLC) and Dynamic Capabilities theories, we conjecture that digital and green servitization represent a crucial learning mechanism for firms that translates into an ampler set of dynamic capabilities, including the ability to produce technological innovation. To test these hypotheses, we employ a Propensity Score Matching (PSM) approach and compare the innovation intensity between firms that engage in Digital, Green or both (digital and green) servitization and those that do not provide these services. Our evidence uncovers a positive relationship between digital servitization and firms' innovative performances. On the contrary, our results reveal that firms that offer green services are less likely to be highly innovative compared to those that do not provide this type of service and suggest the existence of positive complementarities between Digital and Green services in shaping firms' innovative performances. Additionally, we find that public innovation investments foster the effect of digital and green servitization on firms' ability to be highly innovative These results have significant implications for managers' and policymakers' ability to boost firms’ innovativeness during the transition toward a circular economy.