IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i10p4083-d359007.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Relationship between Innovation and Sustainability: A Bibliometric Review of the Literature

Author

Listed:
  • Dorin Maier

    (Department of Buildings and Management, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400020 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Andreea Maier

    (Department of Buildings and Management, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400020 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Ioan Așchilean

    (Department of Buildings and Management, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400020 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Livia Anastasiu

    (Department of Buildings and Management, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400020 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Ovidiu Gavriș

    (Department of Buildings and Management, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400020 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Abstract

The research conducted in this paper is directed towards a bibliometric review and a visualization analysis of the relationship between innovation and sustainability. The main objective is to empirically document the intellectual structure, the volume and the knowledge-development directions. For this objective, we used the VOS Viewer software and the scientific databases ISI Web of Science (WoS). We identify that there is a big increase in volume of articles on innovation and sustainability published in the last 10 years, from 2010 up to 2019, compared to the entire period before 2010. Given the large amount of the literature, we form an ample database of 436 peer-reviewed articles published in the last 10 years. The bibliometric analysis reveals the most influential journals, authors and papers in the studied field. This research reveals that by combining the main aspects of innovation and sustainability in a single concept like “sustainable innovation”, an emerging topic can appear, and it can offer new research directions in the very big field of innovation and in the new and actual field of sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:10:p:4083-:d:359007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/10/4083/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/10/4083/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nigel Roome & Han van Kleef, 2007. "Developing capabilities and competence for sustainable business management as innovation: a research agenda," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/14319, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    2. Cecere, Grazia & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2017. "Green jobs and eco-innovations in European SMEs," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 86-98.
    3. Bernhard Truffer & Lars Coenen, 2012. "Environmental Innovation and Sustainability Transitions in Regional Studies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 1-21, November.
    4. Sridhar P. Nerur & Abdul A. Rasheed & Vivek Natarajan, 2008. "The intellectual structure of the strategic management field: an author co‐citation analysis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 319-336, March.
    5. Tigabu, Aschalew D. & Berkhout, Frans & van Beukering, Pieter, 2015. "Technology innovation systems and technology diffusion: Adoption of bio-digestion in an emerging innovation system in Rwanda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 90(PA), pages 318-330.
    6. van Geenhuizen, Marina & Ye, Qing, 2014. "Responsible innovators: open networks on the way to sustainability transitions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 28-40.
    7. Albort-Morant, Gema & Leal-Millán, Antonio & Cepeda-Carrión, Gabriel, 2016. "The antecedents of green innovation performance: A model of learning and capabilities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 4912-4917.
    8. Chanwoo Cho & Sungjoo Lee, 2015. "How Firms Can Get Ideas from Users for Sustainable Business Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-21, December.
    9. Steve Evans & Doroteya Vladimirova & Maria Holgado & Kirsten Van Fossen & Miying Yang & Elisabete A. Silva & Claire Y. Barlow, 2017. "Business Model Innovation for Sustainability: Towards a Unified Perspective for Creation of Sustainable Business Models," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 597-608, July.
    10. Fagerberg, Jan, 2018. "Mobilizing innovation for sustainability transitions: A comment on transformative innovation policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1568-1576.
    11. Alberto Melane-Lavado & Agustín Álvarez-Herranz, 2018. "Different Ways to Access Knowledge for Sustainability-Oriented Innovation. The Effect of Foreign Direct Investment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-30, November.
    12. Nees Jan Eck & Ludo Waltman, 2017. "Citation-based clustering of publications using CitNetExplorer and VOSviewer," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(2), pages 1053-1070, May.
    13. Elias Carayannis & Stavros Sindakis & Christian Walter, 2015. "Business Model Innovation as Lever of Organizational Sustainability," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 85-104, February.
    14. Kevin W. Boyack & Richard Klavans, 2010. "Co‐citation analysis, bibliographic coupling, and direct citation: Which citation approach represents the research front most accurately?," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 61(12), pages 2389-2404, December.
    15. Leal-Rodríguez, Antonio L. & Ariza-Montes, Antonio J. & Morales-Fernández, Emilio & Albort-Morant, Gema, 2018. "Green innovation, indeed a cornerstone in linking market requests and business performance. Evidence from the Spanish automotive components industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 185-193.
    16. Nees Jan Eck & Ludo Waltman, 2010. "Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(2), pages 523-538, August.
    17. Katherine W. McCain, 1990. "Mapping authors in intellectual space: A technical overview," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 41(6), pages 433-443, September.
    18. Shi, Qian & Lai, Xiaodong, 2013. "Identifying the underpin of green and low carbon technology innovation research: A literature review from 1994 to 2010," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 80(5), pages 839-864.
    19. Matthias Barth & Simon Burandt, 2013. "Adding the “e-” to Learning for Sustainable Development: Challenges and Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-14, June.
    20. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    21. 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.
    22. Magnusson, Thomas & Berggren, Christian, 2018. "Competing innovation systems and the need for redeployment in sustainability transitions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 217-230.
    23. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    24. Colvin, John & Blackmore, Chris & Chimbuya, Sam & Collins, Kevin & Dent, Mark & Goss, John & Ison, Ray & Roggero, Pier Paolo & Seddaiu, Giovanna, 2014. "In search of systemic innovation for sustainable development: A design praxis emerging from a decade of social learning inquiry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 760-771.
    25. Valeria Sodano, 2019. "Innovation Trajectories and Sustainability in the Food System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-19, February.
    26. Xiaojing Zhao & Tengyuan Chang & Bon-Gang Hwang & Xiaopeng Deng, 2017. "Critical Factors Influencing Business Model Innovation for Sustainable Buildings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19, December.
    27. Kevin W. Boyack & Richard Klavans, 2010. "Co-citation analysis, bibliographic coupling, and direct citation: Which citation approach represents the research front most accurately?," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 61(12), pages 2389-2404, December.
    28. Maria Simona Răboacă & Gheorghe Badea & Adrian Enache & Constantin Filote & Gabriel Răsoi & Mihai Rata & Alexandru Lavric & Raluca-Andreea Felseghi, 2019. "Concentrating Solar Power Technologies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-17, March.
    29. Silvestre, Bruno S., 2015. "Sustainable supply chain management in emerging economies: Environmental turbulence, institutional voids and sustainability trajectories," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 156-169.
    30. José M. Merigó & Christian A. Cancino & Freddy Coronado & David Urbano, 2016. "Academic research in innovation: a country analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(2), pages 559-593, August.
    31. Luiza O. De Sousa & Barry W. Richter & Schalk P. Raath, 2017. "Sustainable Environmental Management Indicators in South African Primary Schools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-23, May.
    32. Mónica Ramos-Mejía & Alejandro Balanzo, 2018. "What It Takes to Lead Sustainability Transitions from the Bottom-Up: Strategic Interactions of Grassroots Ecopreneurs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-20, July.
    33. Edurne A. Inigo & Laura Albareda & Paavo Ritala, 2017. "Business model innovation for sustainability: exploring evolutionary and radical approaches through dynamic capabilities," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(5), pages 515-542, July.
    34. Raluca-Andreea Felseghi & Elena Carcadea & Maria Simona Raboaca & Cătălin Nicolae TRUFIN & Constantin Filote, 2019. "Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology for the Sustainable Future of Stationary Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-28, December.
    35. Markard, Jochen & Raven, Rob & Truffer, Bernhard, 2012. "Sustainability transitions: An emerging field of research and its prospects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 955-967.
    36. Juan David González-Ruiz & Sergio Botero-Botero & Eduardo Duque-Grisales, 2018. "Financial Eco-Innovation as a Mechanism for Fostering the Development of Sustainable Infrastructure Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, November.
    37. Edwards-Schachter,Mónica & Wallace,Matthew, 2015. "âShaken, but not stirredâ: six decades defining social innovation," INGENIO (CSIC-UPV) Working Paper Series 201504, INGENIO (CSIC-UPV).
    38. María E. Aguilar-Fernández & José Ramon Otegi-Olaso, 2018. "Firm Size and the Business Model for Sustainable Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-27, December.
    39. Rajan Varadarajan, 2017. "Innovating for sustainability: a framework for sustainable innovations and a model of sustainable innovations orientation," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 14-36, January.
    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. Haitham Nobanee & Fatima Youssef Al Hamadi & Fatma Ali Abdulaziz & Lina Subhi Abukarsh & Aysha Falah Alqahtani & Shayma Khalifa AlSubaey & Sara Mohamed Alqahtani & Hamama Abdulla Almansoori, 2021. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Sustainability and Risk Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-16, March.
    2. Isabel Marques & João Leitão & Alba Carvalho & Dina Pereira, 2021. "Public Administration and Values Oriented to Sustainability: A Systematic Approach to the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-27, February.
    3. Yelizaveta Chernysh & Hynek Roubík, 2020. "International Collaboration in the Field of Environmental Protection: Trend Analysis and COVID-19 Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Batara Surya & Seri Suriani & Firman Menne & Herminawaty Abubakar & Muhammad Idris & Emil Salim Rasyidi & Hasanuddin Remmang, 2021. "Community Empowerment and Utilization of Renewable Energy: Entrepreneurial Perspective for Community Resilience Based on Sustainable Management of Slum Settlements in Makassar City, Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-36, March.
    5. Fandi Yang & Peng Yuan & Gongxiong Jiang, 2022. "Knowledge Spillovers, Institutional Environment, and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-27, November.
    6. Joana Costa & João C.O. Matias, 2020. "Open Innovation 4.0 as an Enhancer of Sustainable Innovation Ecosystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-19, October.
    7. Afaf Hassan, 2022. "Diffusion of Innovation in Sustainable Development Projects: A Proposed Integrative Model," Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, Macrothink Institute, vol. 11(2), pages 26-44, December.
    8. César A. Bernal-Torres & Luz Elba Torres-Guevara & Juan C. Aldana-Bernal & Yoni Wildor Nicolás-Rojas & Tamara Tatiana Pando-Ezcurra, 2023. "The Moderating Role of Innovation in the Relationship Between Business Sustainability and Organizational Performance in Companies of an Emerging Economy," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    9. Jana Möller & Steffen Herm, 2021. "Perceptions of Green User Entrepreneurs’ Performance—Is Sustainability an Asset or a Liability for Innovators?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-12, March.
    10. Nasrin Sultana & Ekaterina Turkina, 2023. "Collaboration for Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem: The Role of Intermediaries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, May.
    11. Andri Ottesen & Dieter Thom & Rupali Bhagat & Rola Mourdaa, 2023. "Learning from the Future of Kuwait: Scenarios as a Learning Tool to Build Consensus for Actions Needed to Realize Vision 2035," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-25, April.
    12. Nosheen Fatma & Abid Haleem, 2023. "Exploring the Nexus of Eco-Innovation and Sustainable Development: A Bibliometric Review and Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-21, August.

    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. Suparak Suriyankietkaew & Phallapa Petison, 2019. "A Retrospective and Foresight: Bibliometric Review of International Research on Strategic Management for Sustainability, 1991–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-27, December.
    2. Suthep Nimsai & Chanin Yoopetch & Polin Lai, 2020. "Mapping the Knowledge Base of Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A Bibliometric Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-21, September.
    3. Shome, Samik & Hassan, M. Kabir & Verma, Sushma & Panigrahi, Tushar Ranjan, 2023. "Impact investment for sustainable development: A bibliometric analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 770-800.
    4. Philip Hallinger & Suparak Suriyankietkaew, 2018. "Science Mapping of the Knowledge Base on Sustainable Leadership, 1990–2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-22, December.
    5. Ronald Vatananan-Thesenvitz & Amaury-Alexandre Schaller & Randall Shannon, 2019. "A Bibliometric Review of the Knowledge Base for Innovation in Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-22, October.
    6. Nadia Preghenella & Cinzia Battistella, 2021. "Exploring business models for sustainability: A bibliographic investigation of the literature and future research directions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2505-2522, July.
    7. Simon Zaby, 2019. "Science Mapping of the Global Knowledge Base on Microfinance: Influential Authors and Documents, 1989–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-21, July.
    8. Ying Huang & Wolfgang Glänzel & Lin Zhang, 2021. "Tracing the development of mapping knowledge domains," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(7), pages 6201-6224, July.
    9. Jun-Ping Qiu & Ke Dong & Hou-Qiang Yu, 2014. "Comparative study on structure and correlation among author co-occurrence networks in bibliometrics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(2), pages 1345-1360, November.
    10. Dorsa Alipour & Hussein Dia, 2023. "A Systematic Review of the Role of Land Use, Transport, and Energy-Environment Integration in Shaping Sustainable Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-29, April.
    11. Osman Issah & Lúcia Lima Rodrigues, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Tax Aggressiveness: A Scientometric Analysis of the Existing Literature to Map the Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, June.
    12. Astrid Kainzbauer & Parisa Rungruang, 2019. "Science Mapping the Knowledge Base on Sustainable Human Resource Management, 1982–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-22, July.
    13. Singh, Shiwangi & Dhir, Sanjay & Das, V. Mukunda & Sharma, Anuj, 2020. "Bibliometric overview of the Technological Forecasting and Social Change journal: Analysis from 1970 to 2018," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    14. Belussi, Fiorenza & Orsi, Luigi & Savarese, Maria, 2019. "Mapping Business Model Research: A Document Bibliometric Analysis," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(3).
    15. Shubham Singhania & Jagvinder Singh & Deepti Aggrawal, 2023. "Gender diversity on board and corporate sustainability: a quantitative review based on bibliometric mapping," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 14(1), pages 267-286, February.
    16. Song Yanhui & Wu Lijuan & Qiu Junping, 2021. "A comparative study of first and all-author bibliographic coupling analysis based on Scientometrics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(2), pages 1125-1147, February.
    17. García-Lillo, Francisco & Seva-Larrosa, Pedro & Sánchez-García, Eduardo, 2023. "What is going on in entrepreneurship research? A bibliometric and SNA analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    18. Oleg Dashkevych & Boris A. Portnov, 2022. "Criteria for Smart City Identification: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-34, April.
    19. Theresa Velden & Shiyan Yan & Carl Lagoze, 2017. "Mapping the cognitive structure of astrophysics by infomap clustering of the citation network and topic affinity analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(2), pages 1033-1051, May.
    20. Secundo, Giustina & Rippa, Pierluigi & Cerchione, Roberto, 2020. "Digital Academic Entrepreneurship: A structured literature review and avenue for a research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).

    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:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:10:p:4083-:d:359007. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.