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Environmental regulation and innovation driving ecological design in the UK automotive industry

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  • Mark Smith
  • Jo Crotty

Abstract

The theory of ecological modernization asserts that economic and environmental goals can be integrated within a framework of industrial modernity. Its central tenet is that environmental regulation can stimulate the application of ‘clean’ technologies or techniques. Ecological modernization also contends that environmental regulation can offer business benefits from innovation through improved product design and economic performance. The EU End of Life Vehicles Directive (ELVD) reflects many of these principles, as it compels all car manufacturers to ‘take back’ and dismantle vehicles at the end of their useful lives and to remove the hazardous substances from the production process. Each component will then be either reused or recycled. The legislation forces designers to introduce ‘clean design’ and ‘design for disassembly’ practices. In light of this, we examine the impact of the directive on UK automotive component manufacturers. We find limited evidence that the EU ELVD Directive has driven product innovation beyond short‐term, incremental technological trajectories. We therefore conclude that a more radical approach, in line with the ‘dematerialization’ thesis by Dobers and Wolff (1999), is needed to generate more radical, ecological design solutions within the UK automotive industry. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Smith & Jo Crotty, 2008. "Environmental regulation and innovation driving ecological design in the UK automotive industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(6), pages 341-349, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:17:y:2008:i:6:p:341-349
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.550
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    4. Francesco Rizzi & Irene Bartolozzi & Alessandra Borghini & Marco Frey, 2013. "Environmental Management of End‐of‐Life Products: Nine Factors of Sustainability in Collaborative Networks," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(8), pages 561-572, December.
    5. Flavius Ioan Rovinaru & Mihaela Daciana Rovinaru & Adina Viorica Rus, 2019. "The Economic and Ecological Impacts of Dismantling End-of-Life Vehicles in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-18, November.
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    7. Doran, Justin & Ryan, Geraldine, 2012. "Regulation and Firm Perception, Eco-Innovation and Firm Performance," MPRA Paper 44578, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    10. Li, Ai Qiang & Kumar, Maneesh & Claes, Björn & Found, Pauline, 2020. "The state-of-the-art of the theory on Product-Service Systems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
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    13. Anton Shevchenko, 2021. "Do financial penalties for environmental violations facilitate improvements in corporate environmental performance? An empirical investigation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1723-1734, May.
    14. Nikolaos S. Trevlopoulos & Thomas A. Tsalis & Konstantinos I. Evangelinos & Konstantinos P. Tsagarakis & Konstantinos I. Vatalis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou, 2021. "The influence of environmental regulations on business innovation, intellectual capital, environmental and economic performance," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 163-178, March.
    15. Simic, Vladimir & Dimitrijevic, Branka, 2013. "Risk explicit interval linear programming model for long-term planning of vehicle recycling in the EU legislative context under uncertainty," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 197-210.
    16. Anna Cabigiosu, 2022. "Sustainable development and incumbents' open innovation strategies for a greener competence‐destroying technology: The case of electric vehicles," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2315-2336, July.
    17. Ángel Peiró-Signes & Marival Segarra-Oña, 2018. "How past decisions affect future behavior on eco‐innovation: An empirical study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1233-1244, December.
    18. Piera Centobelli & Roberto Cerchione & Eugenio Oropallo & Wael Hassan El‐Garaihy & Tamer Farag & Khalid Hassan Al Shehri, 2022. "Towards a sustainable development assessment framework to bridge supply chain practices and technologies," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 647-663, August.
    19. Gu, Haoran & Yang, Shenggang & Xu, Zhaoyi & Cheng, Cheng, 2023. "Supply chain finance, green innovation, and productivity: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    20. Muyao Li & Jinsong Zhang & Ramakrishnan Ramanathan & Ruiqian Li, 2020. "Opening the Black Box: The Impacts of Environmental Regulations on Technological Innovation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-18, June.
    21. José F. Molina‐Azorín & María D. López‐Gamero, 2016. "Mixed Methods Studies in Environmental Management Research: Prevalence, Purposes and Designs," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 134-148, February.
    22. Zhuge, Liqun & Freeman, Richard B. & Higgins, Matthew T., 2020. "Regulation and innovation: Examining outcomes in Chinese pollution control policy areas," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 19-31.
    23. Tariq, Adeel & Badir, Yuosre F. & Tariq, Waqas & Bhutta, Umair Saeed, 2017. "Drivers and consequences of green product and process innovation: A systematic review, conceptual framework, and future outlook," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 8-23.

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