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Eco-Innovation for Sustainability: Evidence from 49 Countries in Asia and Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Jang-Hwan Jo

    (Department of Forest Sciences, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea)

  • Tae Woo Roh

    (Department of International Trade and Commerce, Soonchunhyang University, 22 Soonchunhyangro, Shinchang-myeon, Asan-si, Chungcheongnam-do 336-745, Korea)

  • Seonghoon Kim

    (Graduate School of Business, Seoul National University, Gwanakro 1, Gwanakgu, Seoul 08826, Korea)

  • Yeo-Chang Youn

    (Department of Forest Sciences & Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea)

  • Mi Sun Park

    (Interdisciplinary Program in Global Environmental Management, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea)

  • Ki Joo Han

    (EcoServices Consulting Co., Ltd., 3rd FL, 125 Ogeum-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-050, Korea)

  • Eun Kyung Jang

    (EcoServices Consulting Co., Ltd., 3rd FL, 125 Ogeum-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-050, Korea)

Abstract

Following the trend on focusing on a nation’s economic-growth, side effects such as resource exhaustion, environmental pollution, and social injustice have begun to appear. As a solution, eco-innovation has received a great amount of attention from European countries and as a result, many efforts to analyze the development of eco-innovation quantitatively have been made. This study aims to evaluate the validity of an eco-innovation index developed to support the sustainable development goal. For this purpose, four factors of eco-innovation—capacity, supportive environment, activity, and performance—were applied to three categories of the Triple-Bottom-Line (TBL) concept in sustainability to compare the eco-innovation development level of 49 Asia-Europe Meeting countries. Factors for eco-innovation and TBL at the country level were organized in quartile and compared to see strength and weaknesses for each nation. In order to test if eco-innovation factors of a nation adequately reflect its sustainability, we used various comparisons of ANOVA. The results of this study are as follows: First, the one-way ANOVA tests present the scores for capacity, supportive environment, and performance as grouped into four quartiles in the same pattern as their economic, social, and environmental scores. The three-way ANOVA tests showed significance for the economic category. Scores for capacity, supportive environment, activity and performance were significant at a nation’s economic level. Lastly, the MANOVA test revealed that TBL significantly explains four eco-innovation factors. In addition, the eco-innovation performance level of European nations and Asian nations were compared. The possibility that many nations still have room to be competitive in their eco-innovation efforts was identified. Nations with unbalanced eco-innovation growth are urged to implement new strategies to balance their growth. Therefore, this research contributes to extending research on eco-innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Jang-Hwan Jo & Tae Woo Roh & Seonghoon Kim & Yeo-Chang Youn & Mi Sun Park & Ki Joo Han & Eun Kyung Jang, 2015. "Eco-Innovation for Sustainability: Evidence from 49 Countries in Asia and Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:12:p:15849-16835:d:60957
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Mi Sun Park & Raimund Bleischwitz & Ki Joo Han & Eun Kyung Jang & Ji Hyung Joo, 2017. "Eco-Innovation Indices as Tools for Measuring Eco-Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-28, November.
    3. Ana de Jesus & Minna Lammi & Teresa Domenech & Fedra Vanhuyse & Sandro Mendonça, 2021. "Eco-Innovation Diversity in a Circular Economy: Towards Circular Innovation Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-22, October.
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    5. Dorin Maier & Andreea Maier & Ioan Așchilean & Livia Anastasiu & Ovidiu Gavriș, 2020. "The Relationship between Innovation and Sustainability: A Bibliometric Review of the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-20, May.
    6. Loučanová Erika & Olšiaková Miriam, 2019. "Supporting Ecological Innovation as a Factor for Economic Development," Studia Universitatis „Vasile Goldis” Arad – Economics Series, Sciendo, vol. 29(3), pages 80-91, September.
    7. Păcesilă, Mihaela & Ciocoiu, Carmen Nadia, 2017. "Eco-Innovation and its Determinants: A Review of the Emerging Literature," Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference (2017), Dubrovnik, Croatia, in: Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 7-9 September 2017, pages 134-144, IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy, Zagreb.
    8. Teodoro Gallucci & Vesselina Dimitrova & Georgi Marinov, 2019. "Interrelation between Eco-Innovation and Intra-Industry Trade—A Proposal for a Proxy Indicator of Sustainability in the EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-13, November.
    9. M. Pilar Latorre & Margarita Martinez-Nuñez & Carmen Callao, 2021. "Modelling and analysing the relationship between innovation and the European Regulations on hazardous waste shipments," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 575-594, December.
    10. Pérez-Pérez, Juan Fernando & Parra, Juan Felipe & Serrano-García, Jakeline, 2021. "A system dynamics model: Transition to sustainable processes," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
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