What are the drivers of eco-innovation? Empirical evidence from French start-ups

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify the drivers of eco-innovation in start-ups. Firstly, a discriminant analysis (DA) is applied to study what is distinctive about eco-innovative start-ups as compared to non-eco-innovative start-ups. Secondly, a typology of eco-innovative start-ups is developed using a hierarchical ascendant clustering (HAC). Analyses are carried out using original data from a survey of 120 eco-innovative and non-eco-innovative French start-ups.Discriminant analyses reveal that the founders of eco-innovative start-ups are differentiated by characteristics related to their environmental education and professional experience. Furthermore, eco-innovative start-ups are distinguished from the non-eco-innovative start-ups by voluntary environmental practices, such as the adoption of corporate social responsibility policies. Finally, we show that there is a diversity of profiles of eco-innovators. In fact, firms cluster into five main profiles and exhibit different eco-innovation drivers. We highlight that the different types of eco-innovators do not face the same difficulties in accessing funds. These findings have important implications for the implementation of public policy designed to promote eco-innovative activity, and they highlight the need to design policies that take into account the distinctive character of each profile.