IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/indinn/v30y2023i7p824-863.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Knowing brown and inventing green? Incremental and radical innovative activities in the automotive sector

Author

Listed:
  • Julia Mazzei
  • Tommaso Rughi
  • Maria Enrica Virgillito

Abstract

The development of low emission vehicles (LEVs) represents a typical case of technological competition between two green trajectories. On the one hand, the incremental trajectory aims at improving the efficiency of the dominant design, greening the internal combustion engine (ICEG). On the other hand, the radical trajectory targets the progress of hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles (HEF). This paper studies the innovative behaviours of firms in the automotive sector patenting in both trajectories. It investigates the extent to which technological leadership in green patents is rooted in firms’ knowledge and capabilities accumulated in brown domains. Using a novel dataset of automotive firms with patenting activity at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) between 2001 and 2018, we find that related ‘brown knowledge’ denotes leadership in green trajectories.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia Mazzei & Tommaso Rughi & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2023. "Knowing brown and inventing green? Incremental and radical innovative activities in the automotive sector," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(7), pages 824-863, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:indinn:v:30:y:2023:i:7:p:824-863
    DOI: 10.1080/13662716.2023.2230159
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13662716.2023.2230159
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13662716.2023.2230159?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 look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Solomon Hsiang & Robert E. Kopp, 2018. "An Economist's Guide to Climate Change Science," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(4), pages 3-32, Fall.
    2. Brand, Christian, 2016. "Beyond ‘Dieselgate’: Implications of unaccounted and future air pollutant emissions and energy use for cars in the United Kingdom," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 1-12.
    3. Arthur, W Brian, 1989. "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(394), pages 116-131, March.
    4. Philippe Aghion & Antoine Dechezleprêtre & David Hémous & Ralf Martin & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Carbon Taxes, Path Dependency, and Directed Technical Change: Evidence from the Auto Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(1), pages 1-51.
    5. Barbieri, Nicolò, 2016. "Fuel prices and the invention crowding out effect: Releasing the automotive industry from its dependence on fossil fuel," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 222-234.
    6. Quatraro, Francesco & Scandura, Alessandra, 2019. "Academic Inventors and the Antecedents of Green Technologies. A Regional Analysis of Italian Patent Data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 247-263.
    7. Dijk, Marc & Orsato, Renato J. & Kemp, René, 2013. "The emergence of an electric mobility trajectory," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 135-145.
    8. Giovanni Dosi & Marco Grazzi & Daniele Moschella, 2017. "What do firms know? What do they produce? A new look at the relationship between patenting profiles and patterns of product diversification," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 413-429, February.
    9. Skeete, Jean-Paul, 2017. "Examining the role of policy design and policy interaction in EU automotive emissions performance gaps," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 373-381.
    10. Anne Nygaard Tanner, 2014. "Regional Branching Reconsidered: Emergence of the Fuel Cell Industry in European Regions," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 90(4), pages 403-427, October.
    11. Barbieri, Nicolò & Marzucchi, Alberto & Rizzo, Ugo, 2020. "Knowledge sources and impacts on subsequent inventions: Do green technologies differ from non-green ones?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(2).
    12. Yassin Denis Bouzzine & Rainer Lueg, 2020. "The contagion effect of environmental violations: The case of Dieselgate in Germany," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3187-3202, December.
    13. Sandro Montresor & Francesco Quatraro, 2020. "Green technologies and Smart Specialisation Strategies: a European patent-based analysis of the intertwining of technological relatedness and key enabling technologies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(10), pages 1354-1365, October.
    14. Sidney Winter & Yuri Kaniovski & Giovanni Dosi, 2003. "A baseline model of industry evolution," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 355-383, October.
    15. Wesley M. Cohen & Richard R. Nelson & John P. Walsh, 2000. "Protecting Their Intellectual Assets: Appropriability Conditions and Why U.S. Manufacturing Firms Patent (or Not)," NBER Working Papers 7552, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Nicolo Barbieri & Alberto Marzucchi & Ugo Rizzo, 2021. "Green technologies, complementarities, and policy," SPRU Working Paper Series 2021-08, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    17. Anne Nygaard Tanner, 2014. "Regional Branching Reconsidered: Emergence of the Fuel Cell Industry in European Regions," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 90(4), pages 403-427, October.
    18. Yuan, Xiaodong & Cai, Yuchen, 2021. "Forecasting the development trend of low emission vehicle technologies: Based on patent data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    19. Carlo Corradini, 2019. "Location determinants of green technological entry: evidence from European regions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 845-858, April.
    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. Armanda Cetrulo & Giovanni Dosi & Angelo Moro & Linnea Nelli & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2023. "Automation, digitalization and decarbonization in the European automotive industry: a roadmap towards a just transition," LEM Papers Series 2023/36, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.

    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. Tommaso Rughi & Jacopo Staccioli & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2023. "Climate change and labour-saving technologies: the twin transition via patent texts," LEM Papers Series 2023/11, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    2. Artur Santoalha & Ron Boschma, 2021. "Diversifying in green technologies in European regions: does political support matter?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(2), pages 182-195, February.
    3. Eva Coll-Martinez & Malia Kedjar & Patricia Renou-Maissant, 2020. "Location Determinants Of Ecoinnovative Firms In France," Working Papers 2020.02, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    4. Fusillo, Fabrizio & Quatraro, Francesco & Santhià , Cristina, 2023. "Leveraging on Circular Economy Technologies for Recombinant Dynamics: Do Localized Knowledge and Digital Complementarities Matter?," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 202314, University of Turin.
    5. 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).
    6. Hötte, Kerstin & Pichler, Anton & Lafond, François, 2021. "The rise of science in low-carbon energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Gianluca Orsatti & François Perruchas & Davide Consoli & Francesco Quatraro, 2020. "Public Procurement, Local Labor Markets and Green Technological Change. Evidence from US Commuting Zones," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 75(4), pages 711-739, April.
    8. Quatraro, Francesco & Scandura, Alessandra, 2019. "Academic Inventors and the Antecedents of Green Technologies. A Regional Analysis of Italian Patent Data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 247-263.
    9. Artur Santoalha & Davide Consoli & Fulvio Castellacci, 2019. "Do digital skills foster green diversification? A study of European regions," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20191029, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    10. Barbieri, Nicolò & Marzucchi, Alberto & Rizzo, Ugo, 2023. "Green technologies, interdependencies, and policy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    11. Lars Speckemeier & Dimitrios Tsivrikos, 2022. "Green Entrepreneurship: Should Legislators Invest in the Formation of Sustainable Hubs?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-26, June.
    12. Castellani, Davide & Marin, Giovanni & Montresor, Sandro & Zanfei, Antonello, 2022. "Greenfield foreign direct investments and regional environmental technologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    13. Alexandra Frangenheim & Michaela Trippl & Camilla Chlebna, 2018. "Beyond the 'single path view': Inter-path relationships in regional contexts," PEGIS geo-disc-2018_06, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    14. Barbieri, Nicolò, 2016. "Fuel prices and the invention crowding out effect: Releasing the automotive industry from its dependence on fossil fuel," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 222-234.
    15. Fusillo, Fabrizio, 2023. "Green Technologies and diversity in the knowledge search and output phases: Evidence from European Patents," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(4).
    16. Nicolò Barbieri & Davide Consoli & Lorenzo Napolitano & François Perruchas & Emanuele Pugliese & Angelica Sbardella, 2023. "Regional technological capabilities and green opportunities in Europe," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 749-778, April.
    17. Mirzadeh Phirouzabadi, Amir & Savage, David & Blackmore, Karen & Juniper, James, 2020. "The evolution of dynamic interactions between the knowledge development of powertrain systems," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 1-16.
    18. Danielle Galliano & Simon Nadel & Pierre Triboulet, 2023. "The geography of environmental innovation: a rural/urban comparison," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 71(1), pages 27-59, August.
    19. Nicolo Barbieri & Alberto Marzucchi & Ugo Rizzo, 2021. "Green technologies, complementarities, and policy," SPRU Working Paper Series 2021-08, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    20. Gianluca Orsatti & Francesco Quatraro & Alessandra Scandura, 2020. "Regional differences in the generation of green technologies: the role of local recombinant capabilities and academic inventors," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 617, Collegio Carlo Alberto.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:taf:indinn:v:30:y:2023:i:7:p:824-863. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CIAI20 .

    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.