Integrated environmental product innovation and impacts on company competitiveness: a case study of the automotive industry in the region of Munich
| Autor: | Johann Wackerbauer, Ursula Triebswetter |
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| Rok vydání: | 2008 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | European Environment. 18:30-44 |
| ISSN: | 1099-0976 0961-0405 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/eet.475 |
| Popis: | This paper examines the impact of integrated environmental product innovations on company competitiveness. In a regional case study about automotive, rail and commercial vehicle firms in Southern Germany it is found that integrated environmental product innovation is driven by factors such as regulatory pressure, the search for competitive advantages and technological lead as well as customer pressure. Regulatory pressure includes sector policies, such as emission standards, and wider non-sector energy conservation issues, at both national and international levels. For instance, EU directives on future use of renewable energy as well as national goals for reaching the Kyoto protocol play an important role in driving innovation. The study finds that integrated environmental product innovations driven by regulatory pressure produce similar competitiveness impacts as innovations undertaken voluntarily by companies. Such results yield supporting evidence for the so-called ‘Porter hypothesis’, which assumes that environmental legislation stimulates innovation and leads to ‘win–win’ situations – the simultaneous reduction of pollution and increase in productivity. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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