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Design and environmental technologies: Does ‘green-matching’ actually help?

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  • Ghisetti, Claudia
  • Montresor, Sandro
  • Vezzani, Antonio

Abstract

This paper investigates whether a green kind of design helps firms increase their capabilities for inventing in the environmental domain and whether it does so more than ‘standard’ design. It also investigates whether the effect of ‘green-matching’ between new design and technologies is conditional on firms’ innovative capabilities, as reflected by their R&D expenditure. We address these research questions with respect to the world's top R&D investors, looking at their intellectual property rights at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and proposing an original textual identification of green designs and trademarks. We find that green design increases environmental inventions by top R&D investors, and to a greater extent than non-environmental ones. Standard design also stimulates environmental inventions, but to a lesser extent than green design. The ‘green-matching’ actually helps, but internal innovative capabilities are required to make it effective: a green-tech ‘prize’ emerges from green design, but only once a minimum threshold of R&D expenditure has been reached.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghisetti, Claudia & Montresor, Sandro & Vezzani, Antonio, 2021. "Design and environmental technologies: Does ‘green-matching’ actually help?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(5).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:50:y:2021:i:5:s0048733321000123
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2021.104208
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    Cited by:

    1. Carolina Castaldi & Kyriakos Drivas, 2023. "Relatedness, Cross-relatedness and Regional Innovation Specializations: An Analysis of Technology, Design, and Market Activities in Europe and the US," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 99(3), pages 253-284, May.
    2. Moreno, Rosina & Ocampo-Corrales, Diego, 2022. "The ability of European regions to diversify in renewable energies: The role of technological relatedness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(5).
    3. Andersson, David E. & Ekman, Anton & Huila, Anton & Tell, Fredrik, 2023. "Industrial design rights and the market value of firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    4. Andrea Celone & Antonello Cammarano & Mauro Caputo & Francesca Michelino, 2022. "Features of Sustainability-Oriented Innovations: A Content Analysis of Patent Abstracts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-16, November.
    5. Valero-Gil, Jesus & Surroca, Jordi A. & Tribo, Josep A. & Gutierrez, Leopoldo & Montiel, Ivan, 2023. "Innovation vs. standardization: The conjoint effects of eco-innovation and environmental management systems on environmental performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(4).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Eco-innovation; Eco-design; Green technologies; Green-oriented design; R&D;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O44 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Environment and Growth

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