Eco-innovation in the European Union : Challenges for Catching-up Economies

• Autorzy: Agnieszka Hajdukiewicz , Bożena Pera
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Objective: The objective of the article is to examine the eco-innovation performance of the EU countries measured by the Eco-Innovation Index and identify the key areas for improvement for the EU members with relatively low scores.
Research Design & Methods: The research methods include the literature study, the analysis of documents, and the comparative analysis of statistical data collected from the eco-innovation scoreboard database with the use of descriptive statistics, correlation index, and cluster analysis. The comparative analysis covered selected eco-innovation indicators and sub-indicators for nine catching-up economies compared to the leading countries and the EU average.
Findings: The results show that despite the fact that almost all economies from the group of catching-up eco-innovators made progress in terms of their overall eco-innovation performance, albeit they were una- ble to significantly reduce the innovation gap between them, and the leading countries and their classifica- tion based on relative results remained unchanged in the recent decade. This suggests that more effort, focused especially on specific thematic areas, is needed for these countries to make bigger progress and to move up to the average eco-innovation performers and even to the leading eco-innovators. The strongest correlation between the value of the Eco-Innovation Index and the value of a given subindex suggests that the main areas for improvement are: total R&D personnel and researchers, eco-innovation-related patents, energy productivity and implementation of sustainable products among SMEs, but all of the areas covered by subsequent subindexes need attention.
Implications & Recommendations: Taking into consideration the fact that eco-innovations are important tools for achieving sustainable development goals, the results of the study may provide important guidance for policy-makers in the area of innovation policy and sustainable development, especially in economies clas- sified as 'catching up with eco-innovation.'
Contribution & Value Added: By focusing on the eco-innovation gap between the countries leading in this respect and those catching up, we have identified the key areas that require significant improvement, looking from the perspective of countries currently achieving relatively weak results in individual dimensions of eco- innovation and striving to improve their innovation performance. (original abstract)

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Innovative character; Eco-innovation; Environmental protection

PL

Innowacyjność; Ekoinnowacje; Ochrona środowiska

• Czasopismo: Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review
• Rocznik: 2023
• Tom: 11
• Numer: nr 1
• Strony: 145--164

Twórcy

autor

Agnieszka Hajdukiewicz

• Krakow University of Economics

autor

Bożena Pera

• Krakow University of Economics

Bibliografia

• Al-Ajlani, H., Cvijanović, V., Es-Sadkix, N., & Müller, V. (2021). EU Eco-Innovation Index 2021. Policy brief. Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology - UNU-MERIT: Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 1-2. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/rtd/items/725730 on August 14, 2022.
• Andersen, M.M. (2008). Eco-innovation - theoretical and methodological considerations, DIME WP 2.5 Work- shop on Empirical Analyses of Environmental Innovations, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI, Karlsruhe.
• Androniceanu, A., & Georgescu, I. (2023). The impact of CO2 emissions and energy consumption on economic growth: a panel data analysis. Energies, 16(3), 1342. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16031342
• Androniceanu, A., & Sabie, O.M. (2022). Overview of green energy as a real strategic option for sustainable de- velopment. Energies, 15(22), 8573. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15228573.
• Androniceanu, A. (2021). Transparency in public administration as a challenge for a good democratic governance. Administratie si Management Public, 36, 149-164. https://doi.org/10.24818/amp/2021.36-09
• Apostu, S-A., & Gigauri, I. (2023). Sustainable development and entrepreneurship in emerging countries: Are sustainable development and entrepreneurship reciprocally reinforcing?. Journal of Entrepreneurship, Man- agement, and Innovation, 19(1), 41-77. https://doi.org/10.7341/20231912
• Arranz, N., Arroyabe, M., Li, J., & Fernandez de Arroyabe, J.C. (2020). Innovation as a driver of eco-innovation in the firm: An approach from the dynamic capabilities theory. Business Strategy and the Environment, 29(3), 1494-1503. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2448
• Barbieri, N., Ghisetti, C., Gilli, M., & Nicolli, F. (2016). A survey of the literature on environmental innovation based on main path analysis. Journal of Economic Surveys, 30(3), 596-623. https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12149
• Chmielewska, A., & Sławiński, A. (2021). Climate crisis, central banks and the IMF reform. Economics and Business Review EBR, 21(4), 7-27. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.18559/ebr.2021.4.2
• Ciocanel, A.B., & Pavelescu, F.M. (2015). Innovation and Competitiveness in European Context, Procedia Eco- nomics and Finance, 32, 728-737. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)01455-0
• Dean, T.J., & McMullen, J.S. (2007). Toward a theory of sustainable entrepreneurship: reducing environmental degradation through entrepreneurial action. Journal of Business Venturing, 22(1), 50-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2005.09.003
• del Río, P., Carrillo-Hermosilla, J., & Konnola, T. (2010). Policy Strategies to Promote Eco-Innovation. An Inte- grated Framework. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 14(4), 541-557. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530- 9290.2010.00259.x
• del Rio, P., Penasco, C., & Romero-Jordan, D. (2016). What drives eco-innovators? A critical review of the empir- ical literature based on econometric methods. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112(4), 2158-2170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.09.009
• Doyle, E., & Perez-Alniz, M. (2017). From the Concept to the Measurement of Sustainable Competitiveness: Social abd Environmental Aspects. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 5(4), 35-59. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2017.050402
• Ervits, I. (2020). Quadrants of invention: Individual patent applications as unutilized resource of innovative ca- pacity. International Entrepreneurship Review, 6(1), 7-27. https://doi.org/10.15678/IER.2020.0601.01
• European Commission. (2022a). Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, The European Economic And Social Committee and The Committee Of The Regions on the monitoring frame- work for the 8th Environment Action Programme: Measuring progress towards the attainment of the Programme's 2030 and 2050 priority objectives, European Commission, COM(2022) 357 final. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM%3A2022%3A357%3AFIN on August 17, 2022.
• European Commission. (2022b). EU Eco-Innovation Index 2021. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/news- room/rtd/items/725730/en on August 6, 2022.
• European Commission. (2011). Innovation for a sustainable Future - The Eco-innovation Action Plan (Eco-AP), COM(2011) 899 final. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriS- erv.do?uri=COM:2011:0899:FIN:EN:PDF on August 12, 2022.
• European Parliament and Council (2006). Decision No. 1639/2006/WE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 establishing a Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme 2007- 2013 (CIP). Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/competitiveness-and-in- novation-framework-programme-cip-2007-2013.html on August 16, 2022.
• Fussler, C., & James, P. (1996). Driving Eco-Innovation: A Breakthrough Discipline for Innovation and Sustainabil- ity. London: Pitman Publishing.
• Harc, M. (2019). The Pathway Toward a Resource-Efficient Economy in Croatia. Ekonomiski Vjesnik, 31(2), 385- 397. Retrieved from https://hrcak.srce.hr/214455 on August 16, 2022.
• Hazarika, N., & Zhang, X. (2019). Factors that drive and sustain eco-innovation in the construction industry: the case of Hong Kong. Journal Of Cleaner Production, 238, 117-816. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.117816
• Horbach, J. (2016). Empirical determinants of eco-innovation in European countries using the community inno- vation survey. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 19, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2015.09.005
• Horbach, J., & Reif, C. (2018). New Developments in Eco-Innovation Research: Aim of the Book and Overview of the Different Chapters. In J. Horbach & C. Reif (Eds.), New Developments in Eco-Innovation Research. (pp. 1- 11 ). Cham: Springer International Publishing AG.
• Horbach, J. (2019). Determinants of eco-innovation at the firm level. In F. Boons & A. McMeekin (Eds.), Handbook of sustainable innovation (pp. 60-77). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
• James, P. (1997). The sustainability cycle: a new tool for product development and design. The Journal of Sustainable Product Design, 2, 52-57. Retrieved from https://cfsd.org.uk/journal/archive/97jspd2.pdf on February 28, 2023.
• Kainrath, D. (2011). Ecopreneurship in Theory and Practice: A Proposed Emerging Framework for Ecopreneurship. Saarbrücken: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. Kemp, R., & Pearson, P. (2007). Final report MEI project about measuring eco-innovation. Maastricht: UM MERIT. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/env/consumption-innovation/43960830.pdf on February 13, 2023.
• Kowalska, A., & Bieniek, M. (2022). Meeting the European green deal objective of expanding organic farming. Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, 17(3), 607-633. https://doi.org/10.24136/eq.2022.021
• Kula, F., & Ünlü, F. (2019). Ecological Innovation Efforts and Performances: An Empirical Analysis. In M. Shahbaz & D. Balsalobre (Eds.), Energy and Environmental Strategies in the Era of Globalization (pp. 221-250). Cham: Springer International Publishing AG.
• Lesáková, L., & Laco, P. (2020). Using Eco-innovation Index to Measure the Eco-innovation Performance in the Global Knowledge Economy: Evidence from Slovakia. SHS Web of Conferences. 74. 06017. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20207406017
• Martin, L., McNeil, T., & Warren-Smith, I. (2013). Exploring business growth and eco innovation in rural small firms. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 19(6), 592-610. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-10-2012-0118
• Mongi, C.E., Yangi, Y.A.R., Montolau C.E.J.C., & Nainggolan, N. (2019). Comparison of hierarchical clustering methods (case study: data on poverty influence in North Sulawesi). IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering 567 012048, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/567/1/012048
• Musaev, A., Makshanov, A., Grigoriev, D. (2023). Dynamic Robustification of Trading Management Strategies for Unstable Immersion Environments. Montenegrin Journal of Economics, 19(1), 19-30. https://doi.org/10.14254/1800-5845/2023.19-1.2
• Naglova, Z., Boberova, B., Horakova, T., & Smutka, L. (2017). Statistical analysis of factors influencing the results of enterprises in dairy industry. Agricultural Economics (Czech Republic), 63(6), 259-270. https://doi.org/10.17221/353/2015-AGRICECON
• Nnaji, J.C., & Igbuku, A. (2019). Improving the Eco-Innovation Status of Africa using Sustainable Chemistry Principles. European Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 3(1), em0068, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.20897/ejosdr/3934
• Okuneviciute Neverauskiene, L., & Pranskeviciute, I. (2021). Hybridity of social enterprise models and ecosystems. Journal of International Studies, 14(1), 41-59. doi:10.14254/2071-8330.2021/14-1/3
• Oliinyk, O., Mishchuk, H., Vasa, L., & Kozma, K. (2023). Social Responsibility: Opportunities for Integral Assessment and Analysis of Connections with Business Innovation. Sustainability, 15(6), 5608. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15065608
• Ostraszewska, Z., & Tylec, A. (2019). Eco-innovation: the profile of Poland in comparison to the European Union. Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management, 5(SI), 206-214. https://doi.org/ 10.22034/gjesm.2019.SI.23
• Piwowar, A. (2020). Challenges associated with environmental protection in rural areas of Poland: Empirical stud- ies' results. Economics and Sociology, 13(1), 217-229. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-789X.2020/13-1/14
• Piwowar-Sulej, K., & Podsiadły, K. (2022). Technological innovation and the labor market: The two-way non-reciprocal relationships with a focus on the confectionery industry in Poland. Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management, and Innovation, 18(2), 135-171. https://doi.org/10.7341/20221835
• Rennings, K. (2000). Redefining innovation-eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics. Ecological Economics, 32(2), 319-332. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(99)00112-3
• Richterová, E., Richter, M., & Palkovič, J. (2021a). World's 24 biggest agricultural producers 'Eco-efficiency considering undesirable outputs. Agris on-Line Papers in Economics and Informatics, 13(3), 89-100. https://doi.org/10.7160/aol.2021.130309
• Richterová, E., Richter, M., & Sojková, Z. (2021b). Regional eco-efficiency of the agricultural sector in V4 regions, its dynamics in time and decomposition on the technological and pure technical eco-efficiency change. Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, 16(3), 553-576. https://doi.org/10.24136/eq.2021.020
• Rodríguez-Rebés, L., Navío-Marco, J., & Ibar-Alonso, R. (2021). Influence of organisational innovation and inno- vation in general on eco-innovation in European companies. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 22(5), 840-867. https://doi.org/10.1108/jic-06-2020-0203
• Sarkar, A.N. (2013). Promoting Eco-innovations to Leverage Sustainable Development of Eco-industry and Green Growth. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 2(1), 171-224. https://doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2013.v2n1p171
• Scarpellini, S., Valero-Gil, J., & Portilo-Tarragona, P. (2016). The "economic-finance interface" for eco-inno va- tion projects. International Journal of Project Management, 34, 1012-1025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpro- man.2016.04.005
• Sobczak, E., Głuszczuk, D., & Raszkowski A. (2022). Eco-Innovation and Innovation Level of the Economy as a Basis for the Typology of the EU Countries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(4), Article No. 2005, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042005
• Sułkowski, Ł., & Stopczyński, B. (2018). Innovativeness of Polish enterprises in the development of competitive advantage. In K. Wach & M. Maciejewski (Eds.), International Entrepreneurship as the Bridge between International Economics and International Business: Conference Proceedings of the 9th ENTRE Conference - 5th AIB-CEE Chapter Annual Conference. Kraków: Cracow University of Economics. (pp. 373-388). Published within the series Przedsiębiorczość Międzynarodowa | International Entrepreneurship, 4(3).
• Świadek, A., Dzikowski, P., Gorączkowska, J., & Tomaszewski, M. (2022). The National Innovation System in a catching-up country: empirical evidence based on micro data of a Triple Helix in Poland. Oeconomia Copernicana, 13(2), 511-540. https://doi.org/10.24136/oc.2022.016
• Tran, T.K.P. (2022). Does Institutional Quality Modify the Shadow Economy - Environmental Pollution Nexus? Evidence from an Emerging Market. Montenegrin Journal of Economics, 18(4), 71-80. https://doi.org/10.14254/1800-5845/2022.18-4.7
• United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 201570/1. A/RES/70/1
• Urbaniec, M. (2015). Sustainable Development Indicators in Poland: Measurement and System Evaluation. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 3(1), 119-134. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2015.030109
• Urbaniec, M. (2018). Sustainable Entrepreneurship: Innovation-Related. Activities in European Enterprises. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, 27(4), 1773-1779. https://doi.org/10.15244/pjoes/78155
• Wach, K., & Głodowska, A. (2022). Entrepreneurship research in economics and management: Understanding the term and the research trends. International Entrepreneurship Review, 8(4), 7-24. https://doi.org/10.15678/IER.2022.0804.01
• Zaušková, A., & Rezníčková, M. (2020). SoLoMo marketing as a global tool for enhancing awareness of eco-innovations in Slovak business environment. Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, 15(1), 133-150. https://doi.org/10.24136/eq.2020.007

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.15678/EBER.2023.110108