Spécificités des déterminants des innovations environnementales : une approche appliquée aux PME[Specificities of determinants for environmental innovation : an approach applied to SMEs]

Understanding how companies innovate for positive environment impact and sustainable development is a crucial issue for business and society today. Yet, little is currently known about this particular kind of innovation. The objective of this thesis is to shed light on the specificities of environmental innovation for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in terms of determinants and perceived barriers. The theoretical framework is based on the Porter’s Hypothesis in order to examine the effect of regulation. It is enriched by the RBV and KBV approaches to better take into account SMEs’ capabilities and resources in the adoption of environmental innovation. This research is based on three empirical articles and on a quantitative approach which mobilizes several econometric methods. This thesis contributes to three key findings: (1) Environmentally innovative SMEs perceive more barriers, in more intense and numerous ways, compared to others innovative or non-innovative SMEs; (2) Environmentally innovative SMEs utilize more external knowledge sources than other SMEs; (3) SMEs, like large firms, can adopt environmental innovations proactively because they possess certain capacities. These results lead to public policy and managerial recommendations for more widespread and more effective environmental innovation in SMEs.