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Eco-Innovation and Firm Performance: Evidence from South America

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  • Holger Raúl Barriga Medina

    (Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanísticas, Campus Gustavo Galindo, Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil P.O. Box 09-01-5863, Ecuador)

  • Ruben Guevara

    (CENTRUM Católica Graduate Business School, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima 15088, Peru)

  • Ronald Enrique Campoverde

    (Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanísticas, Campus Gustavo Galindo, Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil P.O. Box 09-01-5863, Ecuador)

  • Milton Ismael Paredes-Aguirre

    (Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanísticas, Campus Gustavo Galindo, Km. 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil P.O. Box 09-01-5863, Ecuador)

Abstract

Eco-innovation has received a great deal of attention in academia and the business sector because it promotes a firm’s sustainable development and seeks to improve its performance. The prime objective of this study was to analyze the effect of the process, organization, and product eco-innovation on the company’s financial and environmental performance. Using a structural equation model estimated by maximum likelihood and a sample from 214 South American manufacturing companies in Colombia, Ecuador, and Perú, we found that organizational eco-innovation (OE) and process eco-innovation (PCE) are positively and significantly associated with the firm’s environmental and financial performance. In contrast, product eco-innovation (PDE) is not significantly associated with the two types of performance described. Likewise, OE has a significant and positive indirect influence on PDE, environmental performance, and financial performance. These findings suggest that OE and PCE positively affect the firm’s performance. On the contrary, PDE does not have this effect, extending the discussion that eco-innovation is specific to the context of the study.

Suggested Citation

  • Holger Raúl Barriga Medina & Ruben Guevara & Ronald Enrique Campoverde & Milton Ismael Paredes-Aguirre, 2022. "Eco-Innovation and Firm Performance: Evidence from South America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-14, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9579-:d:880194
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    References listed on IDEAS

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