IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/streco/v70y2024icp245-256.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Internationalisation and digitalisation as drivers for eco-innovation in the European Union

Author

Listed:
  • Vasconcelos-Garcia, Madalena
  • Carrilho-Nunes, Inês

Abstract

This article analyses the influence of internationalisation and digitalisation on eco-innovation. Advanced panel data estimation techniques are employed using data from the 27 EU Member States between 2013 and 2022. The dynamic behaviour of internationalisation, more specifically Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), is tested, accounting for the endogeneity between innovation and international economic competition. Results reveal that the relationship between eco-innovation and FDI changes over time. At first, FDI has a negative impact on eco-innovation, but this effect becomes positive after two years. However, when analysing the data for eco-innovation at a disaggregated level, a potential delay in the influence of internationalisation on investments related to green research capabilities and resource efficiency outcomes is revealed. Results also consistently demonstrate a positive influence of digitalisation on eco-innovation, supporting the twin transition proposition of the digital shift complementing the transition towards low-carbon practices. Recommendations for policymakers and managers are provided at the end.

Suggested Citation

  • Vasconcelos-Garcia, Madalena & Carrilho-Nunes, Inês, 2024. "Internationalisation and digitalisation as drivers for eco-innovation in the European Union," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 245-256.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:streco:v:70:y:2024:i:c:p:245-256
    DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2024.02.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0954349X24000328
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.strueco.2024.02.010?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefan Ambec & Mark A. Cohen & Stewart Elgie & Paul Lanoie, 2013. "The Porter Hypothesis at 20: Can Environmental Regulation Enhance Innovation and Competitiveness?," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 7(1), pages 2-22, January.
    2. Mahmood, Nasir & Zhao, Yingjun & Lou, Qinqin & Geng, Jinzhou, 2022. "Role of environmental regulations and eco-innovation in energy structure transition for green growth: Evidence from OECD," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    3. Fernández, Sara & Torrecillas, Celia & Labra, Romilio Ernesto, 2021. "Drivers of eco-innovation in developing countries: the case of Chilean firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    4. Su, Chi Wei & Yue, Peiwen & Hou, Xinmeng & Dördüncü, Hazar, 2023. "Sustainable development through digital innovation: A new era for natural resource extraction and trade," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    5. Miyamoto, Mai & Takeuchi, Kenji, 2019. "Climate agreement and technology diffusion: Impact of the Kyoto Protocol on international patent applications for renewable energy technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1331-1338.
    6. Triguero, Angela & Moreno-Mondéjar, Lourdes & Davia, María A., 2014. "The influence of energy prices on adoption of clean technologies and recycling: Evidence from European SMEs," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 246-257.
    7. Nick Johnstone & Ivan Haščič & David Popp, 2010. "Renewable Energy Policies and Technological Innovation: Evidence Based on Patent Counts," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 45(1), pages 133-155, January.
    8. Stephen Bond, 2002. "Dynamic panel data models: a guide to microdata methods and practice," CeMMAP working papers 09/02, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    9. Chatzistamoulou, Nikos, 2023. "Is digital transformation the Deus ex Machina towards sustainability transition of the European SMEs?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    10. Carrilho-Nunes, Inês & Catalão-Lopes, Margarida, 2022. "The effects of environmental policy and technology transfer on GHG emissions: The case of Portugal," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 255-264.
    11. Lucia Domaracká & Andrea Seňová & Dominik Kowal, 2023. "Evaluation of Eco-Innovation and Green Economy in EU Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-19, January.
    12. Herman, Peter R. & Oliver, Sarah, 2023. "Trade, policy, and economic development in the digital economy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    13. Bel, Germà & Joseph, Stephan, 2018. "Policy stringency under the European Union Emission trading system and its impact on technological change in the energy sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 434-444.
    14. Nunes, Inês Carrilho & Catalão-Lopes, Margarida, 2020. "The impact of oil shocks on innovation for alternative sources of energy: Is there an asymmetric response when oil prices go up or down?," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    15. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasreen, Samia & Abbas, Faisal & Anis, Omri, 2015. "Does foreign direct investment impede environmental quality in high-, middle-, and low-income countries?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 275-287.
    16. Ferreira, João J.M. & Fernandes, Cristina I. & Ferreira, Fernando A.F., 2020. "Technology transfer, climate change mitigation, and environmental patent impact on sustainability and economic growth: A comparison of European countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    17. Roger Fouquet & Ralph Hippe, 2022. "Twin Transitions of Decarbonisation and Digitalisation: A Historical Perspective on Energy and Information in European Economies," Working Papers 08-22, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC).
    18. Richard G. Newell & Adam B. Jaffe & Robert N. Stavins, 1999. "The Induced Innovation Hypothesis and Energy-Saving Technological Change," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 941-975.
    19. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    20. Huang, Yongming & Ahmad, Maaz & Ali, Sher & Kirikkaleli, Dervis, 2022. "Does eco-innovation promote cleaner energy? Analyzing the role of energy price and human capital," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PD).
    21. Mäkitie, Tuukka & Hanson, Jens & Damman, Sigrid & Wardeberg, Mari, 2023. "Digital innovation's contribution to sustainability transitions," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    22. Stephen R. Bond, 2002. "Dynamic panel data models: a guide to micro data methods and practice," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 1(2), pages 141-162, August.
    23. Tang, Chor Foon & Tan, Bee Wah, 2015. "The impact of energy consumption, income and foreign direct investment on carbon dioxide emissions in Vietnam," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 447-454.
    24. Xu, Qiong & Zhong, Meirui & Li, Xin, 2022. "How does digitalization affect energy? International evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    25. Wen, Huwei & Chen, Wenjing & Zhou, Fengxiu, 2023. "Does digital service trade boost technological innovation?: International evidence," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    26. Antonioli, Davide & Mancinelli, Susanna & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2013. "Is environmental innovation embedded within high-performance organisational changes? The role of human resource management and complementarity in green business strategies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 975-988.
    27. Ferreira, Joao J. & Fernandes, Cristina I. & Veiga, Pedro Mota & Caputo, Andrea, 2022. "The interactions of entrepreneurial attitudes, abilities and aspirations in the (twin) environmental and digital transitions? A dynamic panel data approach," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    28. Peñasco, Cristina & del Río, Pablo & Romero-Jordán, Desiderio, 2017. "Analysing the Role of International Drivers for Eco-innovators," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 56-71.
    29. Ren, Shenggang & Yuan, Baolong & Ma, Xie & Chen, Xiaohong, 2014. "International trade, FDI (foreign direct investment) and embodied CO2 emissions: A case study of Chinas industrial sectors," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 123-134.
    30. Du, Juntao & Shen, Zhiyang & Song, Malin & Zhang, Linda, 2023. "Nexus between digital transformation and energy technology innovation: An empirical test of A-share listed enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    31. Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2012. "Which policy instruments to induce clean innovating?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 1770-1778.
    32. Maria Chiarvesio & Valentina De Marchi & Eleonora Di Maria, 2015. "Environmental Innovations and Internationalization: Theory and Practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 790-801, December.
    33. Costantini, Valeria & Crespi, Francesco & Palma, Alessandro, 2017. "Characterizing the policy mix and its impact on eco-innovation: A patent analysis of energy-efficient technologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 799-819.
    34. Kolloch, Michael & Dellermann, Dominik, 2018. "Digital innovation in the energy industry: The impact of controversies on the evolution of innovation ecosystems," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 254-264.
    35. Michael E. Porter & Claas van der Linde, 1995. "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 97-118, Fall.
    36. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luu Tien Dung & Tran Thi Hoang Dung, 2024. "Businesses model innovation: a key role in the internationalisation of SMEs in the era of digitalisation," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-18, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Kai & Yan, Yaxue & Zhang, Xiaoling, 2021. "Carbon-abatement policies, investment preferences, and directed technological change: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    2. Hille, Erik & Althammer, Wilhelm & Diederich, Henning, 2020. "Environmental regulation and innovation in renewable energy technologies: Does the policy instrument matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    3. Patricia Laurens & Christian Le Bas & Stéphane Lhuillery & Antoine Schoen, 2017. "The determinants of cleaner energy innovations of the world’s largest firms: the impact of firm learning and knowledge capital," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 311-333, May.
    4. Su, Hsin-Ning & Moaniba, Igam M., 2017. "Does innovation respond to climate change? Empirical evidence from patents and greenhouse gas emissions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 49-62.
    5. Garrone, Paola & Grilli, Luca, 2010. "Is there a relationship between public expenditures in energy R&D and carbon emissions per GDP? An empirical investigation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5600-5613, October.
    6. Singhania, Monica & Saini, Neha, 2021. "Demystifying pollution haven hypothesis: Role of FDI," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 516-528.
    7. Abdesselam, Rafik & Kedjar, Malia & Renou-Maissant, Patricia, 2024. "What are the drivers of eco-innovation? Empirical evidence from French start-ups," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    8. Mohamed Abdouli & Olfa Kamoun & Besma Hamdi, 2018. "The impact of economic growth, population density, and FDI inflows on $$\hbox {CO}_{2}$$ CO 2 emissions in BRICTS countries: Does the Kuznets curve exist?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1717-1742, June.
    9. Hottenrott, Hanna & Rexhäuser, Sascha & Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2016. "Organisational change and the productivity effects of green technology adoption," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 172-194.
    10. Li, Feiyang & Lin, Ziyue & Huang, Liangxiong & Yang, Caiting, 2022. "Environmental regulation and global value chain division position:Analysis based on global transnational data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    11. Huang, Youxing & Xu, Qi & Zhao, Yanping, 2021. "Short-run pain, long-run gain: Desulfurization investment and productivity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    12. Stojčić, Nebojša, 2021. "Social and private outcomes of green innovation incentives in European advancing economies," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    13. Falavigna, Greta & Ippoliti, Roberto, 2023. "SMEs’ behavior under financial constraints: An empirical investigation on the legal environment and the substitution effect with tax arrears," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    14. Ren, Shenggang & Hu, Yucai & Zheng, Jingjing & Wang, Yangjie, 2020. "Emissions trading and firm innovation: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    15. Ayman Hassan Bazhair & Mohammed Naif Alshareef, 2022. "Dynamic relationship between ownership structure and financial performance: a Saudi experience," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 2098636-209, December.
    16. Verdolini, Elena & Vona, Francesco & Popp, David, 2018. "Bridging the gap: Do fast-reacting fossil technologies facilitate renewable energy diffusion?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 242-256.
    17. Jamil, Abd Rahim Md. & Law, Siong Hook & Mohamad Khair-Afham, M.S. & Trinugroho, Irwan, 2023. "Financial inclusion and economic uncertainty in developing countries: The role of digitalisation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 786-806.
    18. Costantini, Valeria & Crespi, Francesco & Paglialunga, Elena, 2018. "The employment impact of private and public actions for energy efficiency: Evidence from European industries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 250-267.
    19. Aldieri, Luigi & Bruno, Bruna & Makkonen, Teemu & Vinci, Concetto Paolo, 2023. "Environmental innovations, geographically mediated knowledge spillovers, economic and environmental performance," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    20. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "Duration of membership in the world trade organization and investment-oriented remittances inflows," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 258-277.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:streco:v:70:y:2024:i:c:p:245-256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/525148 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.