IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/respol/v44y2015i1p244-257.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental regulation and the cross-border diffusion of new technology: Evidence from automobile patents

Author

Listed:
  • Dechezleprêtre, Antoine
  • Neumayer, Eric
  • Perkins, Richard

Abstract

We examine the impact of environmental regulation on the international diffusion of new technology through the patent system. We employ a dataset of automobile emission standards between 1992 and 2007 and corresponding data on cross-border patent inflows of technologies developed to comply with these standards. Our analysis, based on a research design of country pair years, shows it is “regulatory distance” between countries rather than absolute regulatory stringency per se that matters for cross-border patent inflows: the flow of compliance technologies rises when regulatory standards in the inventor and the recipient countries become “closer”.

Suggested Citation

  • Dechezleprêtre, Antoine & Neumayer, Eric & Perkins, Richard, 2015. "Environmental regulation and the cross-border diffusion of new technology: Evidence from automobile patents," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 244-257.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:44:y:2015:i:1:p:244-257
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2014.07.017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733314001383
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.respol.2014.07.017?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. Ivan Haščič & Nick Johnstone & Fleur Watson & Christopher Kaminker, 2010. "Climate Policy and Technological Innovation and Transfer: An Overview of Trends and Recent Empirical Results," OECD Environment Working Papers 30, OECD Publishing.
    2. Dechezleprêtre, Antoine & Glachant, Matthieu & Ménière, Yann, 2008. "The Clean Development Mechanism and the international diffusion of technologies: An empirical study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 1273-1283, April.
    3. Nick Johnstone & Ivan Hačič & Margarita Kalamova, 2010. "Environmental Policy Characteristics and Technological Innovation," Economia politica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 277-302.
    4. David Popp, 2011. "International Technology Transfer, Climate Change, and the Clean Development Mechanism," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 5(1), pages 131-152, Winter.
    5. Dekker, Thijs & Vollebergh, Herman R.J. & de Vries, Frans P. & Withagen, Cees A., 2012. "Inciting protocols," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 45-67.
    6. David Bailey & Alex de Ruyter & Jonathan Michie & Peter Tyler, 2010. "Global restructuring and the auto industry," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 3(3), pages 311-318.
    7. Paul Lanoie & Jérémy Laurent‐Lucchetti & Nick Johnstone & Stefan Ambec, 2011. "Environmental Policy, Innovation and Performance: New Insights on the Porter Hypothesis," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 803-842, September.
    8. Josh Lerner, 2009. "The Empirical Impact of Intellectual Property Rights on Innovation: Puzzles and Clues," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 343-348, May.
    9. Berggren, Christian & Magnusson, Thomas, 2012. "Reducing automotive emissions—The potentials of combustion engine technologies and the power of policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 636-643.
    10. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Matthieu Glachant & Yann Ménière, 2013. "What Drives the International Transfer of Climate Change Mitigation Technologies? Empirical Evidence from Patent Data," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 54(2), pages 161-178, February.
    11. Wolfgang Keller, 2004. "International Technology Diffusion," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 752-782, September.
    12. Lee, Jaegul & Veloso, Francisco M. & Hounshell, David A., 2011. "Linking induced technological change, and environmental regulation: Evidence from patenting in the U.S. auto industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1240-1252.
    13. Adam B. Jaffe & Karen Palmer, 1997. "Environmental Regulation And Innovation: A Panel Data Study," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(4), pages 610-619, November.
    14. Patrick Bayer & Johannes Urpelainen, 2013. "External sources of clean technology: Evidence from the Clean Development Mechanism," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 81-109, March.
    15. Lema, Rasmus & Quadros, Ruy & Schmitz, Hubert, 2012. "Shifts in Innovation Power to Brazil and India: Insights from the Auto and Software Industries," MPRA Paper 49591, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Popp, David, 2006. "International innovation and diffusion of air pollution control technologies: the effects of NOX and SO2 regulation in the US, Japan, and Germany," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 46-71, January.
    17. Costantini, Valeria & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2012. "On the green and innovative side of trade competitiveness? The impact of environmental policies and innovation on EU exports," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 132-153.
    18. de la Tour, Arnaud & Glachant, Matthieu & Ménière, Yann, 2011. "Innovation and international technology transfer: The case of the Chinese photovoltaic industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 761-770, February.
    19. 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.
    20. Brandt, Urs Steiner & Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard, 2006. "Climate change negotiations and first-mover advantages: the case of the wind turbine industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 1175-1184, July.
    21. Lanjouw, Jean Olson & Mody, Ashoka, 1996. "Innovation and the international diffusion of environmentally responsive technology," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 549-571, June.
    22. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Matthieu Glachant & Ivan Haščič & Nick Johnstone & Yann Ménière, 2011. "Invention and Transfer of Climate Change--Mitigation Technologies: A Global Analysis," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 5(1), pages 109-130, Winter.
    23. Peters, Michael & Schneider, Malte & Griesshaber, Tobias & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2012. "The impact of technology-push and demand-pull policies on technical change – Does the locus of policies matter?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(8), pages 1296-1308.
    24. H. Phoebe Chan, 2010. "The Determinants Of International Patenting For Nine Agricultural Biotechnology Firms," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 247-278, June.
    25. Harhoff, Dietmar & Scherer, Frederic M. & Vopel, Katrin, 2003. "Citations, family size, opposition and the value of patent rights," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1343-1363, September.
    26. Richard Perkins & Eric Neumayer, 2011. "Transnational spatial dependencies in the geography of non-resident patent filings," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 37-60, January.
    27. Park, Walter G., 2008. "International patent protection: 1960-2005," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 761-766, May.
    28. Perkins, Richard & Neumayer, Eric, 2012. "Does the ‘California effect’ operate across borders? trading- and investing-up in automobile emission standards," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 42097, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    29. Lee G. Branstetter & Raymond Fisman & C. Fritz Foley, 2006. "Do Stronger Intellectual Property Rights Increase International Technology Transfer? Empirical Evidence from U. S. Firm-Level Panel Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(1), pages 321-349.
    30. Gallagher, Kelly Sims, 2006. "Limits to leapfrogging in energy technologies? Evidence from the Chinese automobile industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 383-394, March.
    31. Jonathan Eaton & Samuel Kortum, 2002. "Technology, Geography, and Trade," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(5), pages 1741-1779, September.
    32. 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.
    33. Beise, Marian & Rennings, Klaus, 2005. "Lead markets and regulation: a framework for analyzing the international diffusion of environmental innovations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 5-17, January.
    34. Ivan Haščič & Frans de Vries & Nick Johnstone & Neelakshi Medhi, 2009. "Effects of environmental policy on the type of innovation: The case of automotive emission-control technologies," OECD Journal: Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2009(1), pages 1-18.
    35. Cabigiosu, Anna & Zirpoli, Francesco & Camuffo, Arnaldo, 2013. "Modularity, interfaces definition and the integration of external sources of innovation in the automotive industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 662-675.
    36. Popp, David & Hafner, Tamara & Johnstone, Nick, 2011. "Environmental policy vs. public pressure: Innovation and diffusion of alternative bleaching technologies in the pulp industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1253-1268.
    37. Kamal Saggi, 2002. "Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and International Technology Transfer: A Survey," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 17(2), pages 191-235, September.
    38. Hu, Albert Guangzhou & Jefferson, Gary H., 2009. "A great wall of patents: What is behind China's recent patent explosion?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 57-68, September.
    39. 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.
    40. John Mikler, 2009. "Greening the Car Industry," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12974.
    41. Hall, Bronwyn H & Ziedonis, Rosemarie Ham, 2001. "The Patent Paradox Revisited: An Empirical Study of Patenting in the U.S. Semiconductor Industry, 1979-1995," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(1), pages 101-128, Spring.
    42. Arun Kumaraswamy & Ram Mudambi & Haritha Saranga & Arindam Tripathy, 2012. "Catch-up strategies in the Indian auto components industry: Domestic firms’ responses to market liberalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(4), pages 368-395, May.
    43. Luís M A Bettencourt & Jessika E Trancik & Jasleen Kaur, 2013. "Determinants of the Pace of Global Innovation in Energy Technologies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-6, October.
    44. Giovanni Peri, 2005. "Determinants of Knowledge Flows and Their Effect on Innovation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(2), pages 308-322, May.
    45. Cristina Tébar Less & Steven McMillan, 2005. "Achieving the Successful Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technologies: Trade-related Aspects," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2005/2, OECD Publishing.
    46. Yann Ménière & Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Matthieu Glachant & Ivan Hascic & N. Johnstone, 2011. "Invention and transfer of climate change mitigation technologies: a study drawing on patent data," Post-Print hal-00869795, HAL.
    47. Bergquist, Ann-Kristin & Söderholm, Kristina & Kinneryd, Hanna & Lindmark, Magnus & Söderholm, Patrik, 2013. "Command-and-control revisited: Environmental compliance and technological change in Swedish industry 1970–1990," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 6-19.
    48. Sturgeon, Timothy J. & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2010. "Effects of the crisis on the automotive industry in developing countries : a global value chain perspective," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5330, The World Bank.
    49. Ivan Haščič & Nick Johnstone, 2011. "CDM and international technology transfer: empirical evidence on wind power," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(6), pages 1303-1314, November.
    50. Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2012. "Which policy instruments to induce clean innovating?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 1770-1778.
    51. 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.
    52. Thanh-Dong Pham & Byeong-Kyu Lee & Chi Hyeon Lee & Minh Viet Nguyen, 2015. "Emission Control Technology," Chapters, in: Farhad Nejadkoorki (ed.), Current Air Quality Issues, IntechOpen.
    53. Michael E. Porter & Claas van der Linde, 1995. "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 97-118, Fall.
    54. Smith, Pamela J., 2001. "How do foreign patent rights affect U.S. exports, affiliate sales, and licenses?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 411-439, December.
    55. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Matthieu Glachant & Ivan Haščič & Nick Johnstone & Yann Ménière, 2011. "Invention and Transfer of Climate Change--Mitigation Technologies: A Global Analysis," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 5(1), pages 109-130, Winter.
    56. Eaton, Jonathan & Kortum, Samuel, 1999. "International Technology Diffusion: Theory and Measurement," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 40(3), pages 537-570, August.
    57. Kellenberg, Derek K., 2009. "An empirical investigation of the pollution haven effect with strategic environment and trade policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 242-255, July.
    58. Nick Johnstone & Ivan Haščič & Margarita Kalamova, 2010. "Environmental Policy Design Characteristics and Technological Innovation: Evidence from Patent Data," OECD Environment Working Papers 16, OECD Publishing.
    59. Vanessa Oltra & Maïder Saint Jean, 2009. "Sectoral systems of environmental innovation: an application to the French automotive industry," Post-Print hal-00274413, HAL.
    60. Horbach, Jens, 2008. "Determinants of environmental innovation--New evidence from German panel data sources," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 163-173, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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).
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Matthieu Glachant, 2014. "Does Foreign Environmental Policy Influence Domestic Innovation? Evidence from the Wind Industry," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 58(3), pages 391-413, July.
    5. 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.
    6. Suchita Srinivasan, 2017. "Driven up the wall? Role of environmental regulation in innovation along the automotive global value chain," CIES Research Paper series 52-2017, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.
    7. David Popp, 2019. "Environmental policy and innovation: a decade of research," CESifo Working Paper Series 7544, CESifo.
    8. Elena Verdolini & Valentina Bosetti, 2017. "Environmental Policy and the International Diffusion of Cleaner Energy Technologies," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 66(3), pages 497-536, March.
    9. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Matthieu Glachant & Yann Ménière, 2013. "What Drives the International Transfer of Climate Change Mitigation Technologies? Empirical Evidence from Patent Data," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 54(2), pages 161-178, February.
    10. Declan Conway & Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Ivan Haščič & Nick Johnstone, 2015. "Invention and Diffusion of Water Supply and Water Efficiency Technologies: Insights from a Global Patent Dataset," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 1(04), pages 1-34, December.
    11. Matthieu Glachant, 2013. "Greening Global Value Chains: Innovation and the International Diffusion of Technologies and Knowledge," OECD Green Growth Papers 2013/5, OECD Publishing.
    12. Durán-Romero, Gemma & López, Ana M. & Beliaeva, Tatiana & Ferasso, Marcos & Garonne, Christophe & Jones, Paul, 2020. "Bridging the gap between circular economy and climate change mitigation policies through eco-innovations and Quintuple Helix Model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    13. Barbieri, Nicolò, 2015. "Investigating the impacts of technological position and European environmental regulation on green automotive patent activity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 140-152.
    14. Dechezlepretre, Antoine & Glachant, Matthieu & Hascic, Ivan & Johnstone, Nick & Meniere, Yann, 2009. "Invention and Transfer of Climate Change Mitigation Technologies on a Global Scale: A Study Drawing on Patent Data," Sustainable Development Papers 54361, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    15. Costantini, Valeria & Crespi, Francesco & Martini, Chiara & Pennacchio, Luca, 2015. "Demand-pull and technology-push public support for eco-innovation: The case of the biofuels sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 577-595.
    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. Mare Sarr & Joëlle Noailly, 2017. "Innovation, Diffusion, Growth and the Environment: Taking Stock and Charting New Directions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 66(3), pages 393-407, March.
    18. Rubashkina, Yana & Galeotti, Marzio & Verdolini, Elena, 2015. "Environmental regulation and competitiveness: Empirical evidence on the Porter Hypothesis from European manufacturing sectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 288-300.
    19. Ghisetti, Claudia & Marzucchi, Alberto & Montresor, Sandro, 2015. "The open eco-innovation mode. An empirical investigation of eleven European countries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 1080-1093.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Pollution control technologies; Environmental regulation; Patents; International technology diffusion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation

    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:eee:respol:v:44:y:2015:i:1:p:244-257. 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/respol .

    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.