Title: Environmental innovations, complementarity and local/global cooperation: evidence from North-East Italian industry

Authors: Giulio Cainelli, Massimiliano Mazzanti, Roberto Zoboli

Addresses: Department of Economics Marco Fanno, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. ' Department of Economics Institutions Territory, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy. ' Faculty of Political Science, Catholic University of Milan, Milan, Italy

Abstract: This paper exploits a dataset of 555 industrial firms, located in the Emilia Romagna region in 2006-2008, to analyse complementarity in eco-innovation (EI) and to test the role of firm cooperation and internationally oriented strategies. Results show that the degree of complementarity between various EI factors is quite high with networking and corporate social responsibility playing dominant roles. EIs do not undermine economic performance, either in the short run or in the context of the global financial crisis. Econometric analyses highlight that international characteristics, especially foreign ownership, and networking with other firms and institutions are important for EI adoption, while general research and development is less so. Over and above the structural features of firms, strategic relationships within regions and at the international level are relevant and differentiate innovative performance. This study provides an in-depth regional investigation which complement the information gathered in the last wave of the community innovation survey which included questions on EI over the same period and is available for France, Italy and Germany.

Keywords: eco-innovation; complementarity; local industries; industrial systems; networking; international strategies; ecology; environmental innovations; local cooperation; global cooperation; North-East Italy; Emilia Romagna; corporate social responsibility; CSR; economic performance; financial crises; econometric analysis; foreign ownership; R&D; research and development; strategic relationships; regions; innovative performance; France; Germany; laws; legislation; new product development; NPD; regulation; regulatory frameworks; technology; policy; management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTPM.2011.042090

International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, 2011 Vol.11 No.3/4, pp.328 - 368

Published online: 31 Mar 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article