IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v109y2017icp49-58.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The energy-efficient transformation of EU business enterprises: Adapting policies to contextual factors

Author

Listed:
  • Garrone, Paola
  • Grilli, Luca
  • Mrkajic, Boris

Abstract

Business contexts differ in their ability to foster the energy-efficient transformation (EET) of enterprises. Accordingly, energy efficiency policies have to be adapted to different situations. The present paper analyzes the relationships between the EET of European Union (EU) business end-users and three contextual factors, i.e. high energy prices, stringency of regulations, and society's alertness toward environment conservation. Enterprises from 9 EU Member States have been grouped according to country, industry and size. The final sample includes 256 enterprise classes, and the model controls for the innovation propensity and energy intensity of each enterprise class. Our results show that regulatory stringency is the most impactful contextual factor, while the environmental alertness of society does not have a significant effect. Concerns over energy costs have not been found to drive EET per se, but more energy-intensive enterprise classes are more likely to react to high energy prices. We discuss the implications of our results for the EU governments that are currently monitoring and refining the transposition of the 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive.

Suggested Citation

  • Garrone, Paola & Grilli, Luca & Mrkajic, Boris, 2017. "The energy-efficient transformation of EU business enterprises: Adapting policies to contextual factors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 49-58.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:109:y:2017:i:c:p:49-58
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.06.054
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142151730407X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.06.054?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. Kanellakis, M. & Martinopoulos, G. & Zachariadis, T., 2013. "European energy policy—A review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1020-1030.
    2. Martin, Ralf & Muûls, Mirabelle & de Preux, Laure B. & Wagner, Ulrich J., 2012. "Anatomy of a paradox: Management practices, organizational structure and energy efficiency," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 208-223.
    3. Jaffe Adam B. & Stavins Robert N., 1995. "Dynamic Incentives of Environmental Regulations: The Effects of Alternative Policy Instruments on Technology Diffusion," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 43-63, November.
    4. Stephen J. Decanio & William E. Watkins, 1998. "Investment In Energy Efficiency: Do The Characteristics Of Firms Matter?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(1), pages 95-107, February.
    5. Kenneth Gillingham & Richard G. Newell & Karen Palmer, 2009. "Energy Efficiency Economics and Policy," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 597-620, September.
    6. Marcel P. Timmer & Mary O’Mahony & Bart van Ark, 2007. "EU KLEMS Growth and Productivity Accounts: An Overview," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 14, pages 71-85, Spring.
    7. Horbach, Jens & Rammer, Christian & Rennings, Klaus, 2012. "Determinants of eco-innovations by type of environmental impact — The role of regulatory push/pull, technology push and market pull," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 112-122.
    8. Joshua Linn, 2008. "Energy Prices and the Adoption of Energy-Saving Technology," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(533), pages 1986-2012, November.
    9. Nicholas Bloom & Christos Genakos & Ralf Martin & Raffaella Sadun, 2010. "Modern Management: Good for the Environment or Just Hot Air?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(544), pages 551-572, May.
    10. Kristel Buysse & Alain Verbeke, 2003. "Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 453-470, May.
    11. Cagno, Enrico & Ramirez-Portilla, Andres & Trianni, Andrea, 2015. "Linking energy efficiency and innovation practices: Empirical evidence from the foundry sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 240-256.
    12. Trianni, Andrea & Cagno, Enrico & Farné, Stefano, 2016. "Barriers, drivers and decision-making process for industrial energy efficiency: A broad study among manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1537-1551.
    13. Matthew Sutton & Christine Godfrey, 1995. "A grouped data regression approach to estimating economic and social influences on individual drinking behaviour," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 4(3), pages 237-247, May.
    14. Mary O'Mahony & Marcel P. Timmer, 2009. "Output, Input and Productivity Measures at the Industry Level: The EU KLEMS Database," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(538), pages 374-403, June.
    15. Christopher F Baum, 2008. "Stata tip 63: Modeling proportions," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 8(2), pages 299-303, June.
    16. Aseem Prakash & Matthew Potoski, 2012. "Voluntary environmental programs: A comparative perspective," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 123-138, December.
    17. Nancy L. Rose & Paul L. Joskow, 1990. "The Diffusion of New Technologies: Evidence from the Electric Utility Industry," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(3), pages 354-373, Autumn.
    18. Popp, David C., 2001. "The effect of new technology on energy consumption," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 215-239, July.
    19. 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.
    20. Elena Verdolini & Marzio Galeotti, 2009. "At Home and Abroad: An Empirical Analysis of Innovation and Diffusion in Energy-Efficient Technologies," Working Papers 2009.123, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    21. Marius Christian Ley, 2010. "Insights into the Determinants of Innovation in Energy Efficiency," KOF Working papers 10-266, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    22. Klaus Rennings & Christian Rammer, 2009. "Increasing Energy and Resource Efficiency through Innovation: An Explorative Analysis Using Innovation Survey Data," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 59(5), pages 442-459, December.
    23. Khanna, Madhu & Damon, Lisa A., 1999. "EPA's Voluntary 33/50 Program: Impact on Toxic Releases and Economic Performance of Firms," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 1-25, January.
    24. Magali Delmas & Michael W. Toffel, 2004. "Stakeholders and environmental management practices: an institutional framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 209-222, July.
    25. Sea-Jin Chang & Arjen van Witteloostuijn & Lorraine Eden, 2010. "From the Editors: Common method variance in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(2), pages 178-184, February.
    26. Geller, Howard & Harrington, Philip & Rosenfeld, Arthur H. & Tanishima, Satoshi & Unander, Fridtjof, 2006. "Polices for increasing energy efficiency: Thirty years of experience in OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 556-573, March.
    27. Nick Bloom & Christos Genakos & Ralf Martin & Raffaella Sadun, 2010. "In brief: Modern Management: Good for the environment or just hot air?," CentrePiece - The magazine for economic performance 303, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    28. David Popp, 2002. "Induced Innovation and Energy Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 160-180, March.
    29. Harish Kumar Jeswani & Walter Wehrmeyer & Yacob Mulugetta, 2008. "How warm is the corporate response to climate change? Evidence from Pakistan and the UK," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 46-60, January.
    30. Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2012. "Which policy instruments to induce clean innovating?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 1770-1778.
    31. Thomas P. Lyon & John W. Maxwell, 2008. "Corporate Social Responsibility and the Environment: A Theoretical Perspective," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 2(2), pages 240-260, Summer.
    32. Verdolini, Elena & Galeotti, Marzio, 2011. "At home and abroad: An empirical analysis of innovation and diffusion in energy technologies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 119-134, March.
    33. Costa-Campi, María Teresa & García-Quevedo, José & Segarra, Agustí, 2015. "Energy efficiency determinants: An empirical analysis of Spanish innovative firms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 229-239.
    34. Rexhäuser, Sascha & Löschel, Andreas, 2015. "Invention in energy technologies: Comparing energy efficiency and renewable energy inventions at the firm level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 206-217.
    35. Nicoletti, Giuseppe & Pryor, Frederic L., 2006. "Subjective and objective measures of governmental regulations in OECD nations," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 433-449, March.
    36. Trianni, A. & Cagno, E., 2012. "Dealing with barriers to energy efficiency and SMEs: Some empirical evidences," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 494-504.
    37. Brunnermeier, Smita B. & Cohen, Mark A., 2003. "Determinants of environmental innovation in US manufacturing industries," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 278-293, March.
    38. Blind, Knut, 2012. "The influence of regulations on innovation: A quantitative assessment for OECD countries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 391-400.
    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. Finnerty, Noel & Sterling, Raymond & Contreras, Sergio & Coakley, Daniel & Keane, Marcus M., 2018. "Defining corporate energy policy and strategy to achieve carbon emissions reduction targets via energy management in non-energy intensive multi-site manufacturing organisations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 913-929.
    2. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Ho, Shan-Ju, 2022. "Impacts of export diversification on energy intensity, renewable energy, and waste energy in 121 countries: Do environmental regulations matter?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 1510-1522.
    3. Blanka Tundys & Agnieszka Bretyn, 2023. "Energy Transition Scenarios for Energy Poverty Alleviation: Analysis of the Delphi Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Alexander Melnik & Kirill Ermolaev, 2020. "Strategy Context of Decision Making for Improved Energy Efficiency in Industrial Energy Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-28, March.
    5. Xiumei Xu & Ruolan Jing & Feifei Lu, 2022. "Environmental Regulation, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Disclosure and Enterprise Green Innovation: Evidence from Listed Companies in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-24, November.

    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. Paola Garrone & Luca Grilli & Boris Mrkajic, 2018. "The role of institutional pressures in the introduction of energy‐efficiency innovations," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1245-1257, December.
    2. Spyros Arvanitis & Michael Peneder & Christian Rammer & Tobias Stucki & Martin Wörter, 2016. "The adoption of green energy technologies: The role of policies in an international comparison," KOF Working papers 16-411, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    3. Solnørdal, Mette Talseth & Thyholdt, Sverre Braathen, 2019. "Absorptive capacity and energy efficiency in manufacturing firms – An empirical analysis in Norway," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 978-990.
    4. Mette Talseth Solnørdal & Lene Foss, 2018. "Closing the Energy Efficiency Gap—A Systematic Review of Empirical Articles on Drivers to Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing Firms," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-30, February.
    5. Costantini, Valeria & Crespi, Francesco & Paglialunga, Elena & Sforna, Giorgia, 2020. "System transition and structural change processes in the energy efficiency of residential sector: Evidence from EU countries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 309-329.
    6. Popp, David & Newell, Richard G. & Jaffe, Adam B., 2010. "Energy, the Environment, and Technological Change," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 873-937, Elsevier.
    7. Francesco Nicolli & Francesco Vona & Lionel Nesta, 2012. "Determinants of Renewable Energy Innovation: Environmental Policies vs. Market Regulation," Working Papers 201204, University of Ferrara, Department of Economics.
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/eu4vqp9ompqllr09j0h0ji242 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/eu4vqp9ompqllr09j0h0ji242 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/eu4vqp9ompqllr09j0h0ji242 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Amore, Mario Daniele & Bennedsen, Morten, 2016. "Corporate governance and green innovation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 54-72.
    14. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/eu4vqp9ompqllr09j0h0ji242 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. David Popp, 2019. "Environmental policy and innovation: a decade of research," CESifo Working Paper Series 7544, CESifo.
    16. Ghisetti, Claudia & Pontoni, Federico, 2015. "Investigating policy and R&D effects on environmental innovation: A meta-analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 57-66.
    17. Wurlod, Jules-Daniel & Noailly, Joëlle, 2018. "The impact of green innovation on energy intensity: An empirical analysis for 14 industrial sectors in OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 47-61.
    18. Dechezlepretre, Antoine & Perkins, Richard & Neumayer, Eric, 2012. "Regulatory Distance and the Transfer of New Environmentally Sound Technologies: Evidence from the Automobile Sector," Climate Change and Sustainable Development 128199, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    19. Pizer, William A. & Popp, David, 2008. "Endogenizing technological change: Matching empirical evidence to modeling needs," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 2754-2770, November.
    20. Hanna Hottenrott & Sascha Rexh�user, 2015. "Policy-Induced Environmental Technology and Inventive Efforts: Is There a Crowding Out?," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 375-401, July.
    21. Valeria Costantini & Francesco Crespi & Alessandro Palma, 2015. "Characterizing the policy mix and its impact on eco-innovation in energy-efficient technologies," SEEDS Working Papers 1115, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Jun 2015.
    22. Giovanni Marin & Alessandro Palma, 2015. "Technology invention and diffusion in residential energy consumption. A stochastic frontier approach," IEFE Working Papers 81, IEFE, Center for Research on Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    23. Feng, Siyu & Lazkano, Itziar, 2022. "Innovation trends in electricity storage: What drives global innovation?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    24. Herman, Kyle S. & Xiang, Jun, 2019. "Induced innovation in clean energy technologies from foreign environmental policy stringency?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 198-207.

    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:enepol:v:109:y:2017:i:c:p:49-58. 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/enpol .

    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.