In Search of Information Sourcing for Environmental Innovation Propensity

Abstract

This paper reports research on the relationship between sourcing strategy of a firm and its environmental innovation propensity. The data is taken from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) survey during the period of 2007-2011. The uniqueness of the Spanish innovation structure and the increasing relevance of environmental issues for the Spanish economy make it a proper setting to investigate environmental innovation dynamics. This paper extends innovation literature into environmental innovation context and argues that a sourcing strategy of a firm is an important determinant driving firms to decide to introduce environmental innovation. The results from 5,980 firms indicate that firms that use internal, market, institutional and freely-available sources of knowledge are more likely to introduce environmental innovation than firms that do not draw from these sources. Information from freely-available sources is the most important source used by firms in driving environmental innovation. In ...