Environmental management practices: good or bad news for innovations delivering environmental benefits? The moderating effect of market characteristics

Grolleau, Gilles; Mzoughi, Naoufel; Pekovic, Sanja

Grolleau, Gilles; Mzoughi, Naoufel; Pekovic, Sanja (2015), Environmental management practices: good or bad news for innovations delivering environmental benefits? The moderating effect of market characteristics, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 24, 4, p. 339-359. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10438599.2014.946312

Type

Article accepté pour publication ou publié

Date

2015-05

Journal name

Economics of Innovation and New Technology

Volume

Number

Publisher

Routledge

Pages

339-359

Abstract (EN)

We examine empirically whether environmental management practices (EMPs) (environmental audits, ISO 14001 standard, etc.) promote (or not) additional innovations delivering environmental benefits. Using a large sample of French firms (N=4114) and simultaneous equations model (SEM), we found that EMPs positively influence the decision of firms to introduce innovations delivering environmental benefits, but this positive relationship is moderated by market characteristics. The findings indicate that EMPs promote such environmental-related innovations when the market of the main activity of the firm is growing. However, when the market is uncertain or competitive, this relationship turns out to be negative.

Subjects / Keywords

Gestion de l'environnement; Modération; Environmental management; Innovations; Environmental benefits; Moderation effect

JEL

L22 - Firm Organization and Market Structure
O31 - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
Q50 - General