IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v26y2019i5p1073-1085.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Innovation strategies of energy firms

Author

Listed:
  • María Teresa Costa‐Campi
  • Néstor Duch‐Brown
  • José García‐Quevedo

Abstract

Investment by energy firms in innovation can have substantial economic and environmental impacts and benefits. Firms engage in innovation for different reasons. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the role that the different innovation objectives have on firms' decisions to invest in each of three types of innovation activity: namely, internal R&D, external R&D, and the acquisition of advanced machinery, equipment, or software. We consider four objectives: process innovation, product innovation, reducing environmental impact, and meeting regulatory requirements. With this approach, we examine how energy firms innovate to reduce their environmental impact in comparison with other innovation objectives. In carrying out the empirical analysis, we draw on data for private energy firms included in the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel for the period 2004–2016. In the empirical analysis, we take the potential persistence of innovation activities into account and we use multivariate probit models to control for possible complementarities between the different R&D and innovation investments. Our results show that internal and external R&D are undertaken to address environmental objectives and to meet regulatory requirements whereas the acquisition of advanced machinery has the purpose of developing process innovations.

Suggested Citation

  • María Teresa Costa‐Campi & Néstor Duch‐Brown & José García‐Quevedo, 2019. "Innovation strategies of energy firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(5), pages 1073-1085, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:26:y:2019:i:5:p:1073-1085
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.1787
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1787
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.1787?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wladimir Raymond & Pierre Mohnen & Franz Palm & Sybrand Schim van der Loeff, 2010. "Persistence of Innovation in Dutch Manufacturing: Is It Spurious?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(3), pages 495-504, August.
    2. Pellegrino, Gabriele & Savona, Maria, 2013. "Is money all? Financing versus knowledge and demand constraints to innovation," MERIT Working Papers 029, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    3. Evens Salies, 2010. "A Test of the Schumpeterian Hypothesis in a Panel of European Electric Utilities," Chapters, in: Jean-Luc Gaffard & Evens Salies (ed.), Innovation, Economic Growth and the Firm, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Shameek Konar & Mark A. Cohen, 2001. "Does The Market Value Environmental Performance?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(2), pages 281-289, May.
    5. José Ángel Zúñiga-Vicente & César Alonso-Borrego & Francisco J. Forcadell & José I. Galán, 2014. "Assessing The Effect Of Public Subsidies On Firm R&D Investment: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 36-67, February.
    6. Pierre Blanchard & Jean-Pierre Huiban & Antonio Musolesi & Patrick Sevestre, 2013. "Where there is a will, there is a way? Assessing the impact of obstacles to innovation," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(3), pages 679-710, June.
    7. Alessandra Catozzella & Marco Vivarelli, 2014. "The Catalysing Role of In-House R&D in Fostering Complementarity Among Innovative Inputs," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 179-196, April.
    8. 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.
    9. Chiara Monfardini & Rosalba Radice, 2008. "Testing Exogeneity in the Bivariate Probit Model: A Monte Carlo Study," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 70(2), pages 271-282, April.
    10. Costa-Campi, M.T. & Duch-Brown, N. & García-Quevedo, J., 2014. "R&D drivers and obstacles to innovation in the energy industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 20-30.
    11. Ignacio J. Pérez-Arriaga, Jesse D. Jenkins, and Carlos Batlle, 2017. "A regulatory framework for an evolving electricity sector: Highlights of the MIT utility of the future study," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    12. Christian Le Bas & Giuseppe Scellato, 2014. "Firm innovation persistence: a fresh look at the frameworks of analysis," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5-6), pages 423-446, September.
    13. Bruno Crepon & Emmanuel Duguet & Jacques Mairesse, 1998. "Research, Innovation And Productivity: An Econometric Analysis At The Firm Level," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 115-158.
    14. Anadón, Laura Díaz, 2012. "Missions-oriented RD&D institutions in energy between 2000 and 2010: A comparative analysis of China, the United Kingdom, and the United States," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 1742-1756.
    15. Pellegrino, Gabriele & Savona, Maria, 2017. "No money, no honey? Financial versus knowledge and demand constraints on innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 510-521.
    16. David, Paul A. & Hall, Bronwyn H. & Toole, Andrew A., 2000. "Is public R&D a complement or substitute for private R&D? A review of the econometric evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 497-529, April.
    17. Pellegrino, Gabriele & Piva, Mariacristina & Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "Young firms and innovation: A microeconometric analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 329-340.
    18. Rachel Griffith & Elena Huergo & Jacques Mairesse & Bettina Peters, 2006. "Innovation and Productivity Across Four European Countries," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 22(4), pages 483-498, Winter.
    19. Jamasb, Tooraj & Pollitt, Michael G., 2015. "Why and how to subsidise energy R+D: Lessons from the collapse and recovery of electricity innovation in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 197-205.
    20. Elisenda Jové‐Llopis & Agustí Segarra‐Blasco, 2018. "Eco‐innovation strategies: A panel data analysis of Spanish manufacturing firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1209-1220, December.
    21. De Marchi, Valentina, 2012. "Environmental innovation and R&D cooperation: Empirical evidence from Spanish manufacturing firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 614-623.
    22. Bronwyn H. Hall & Francesca Lotti & Jacques Mairesse, 2013. "Evidence on the impact of R&D and ICT investments on innovation and productivity in Italian firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 300-328, April.
    23. Wang, Nan & Mogi, Gento, 2017. "Deregulation, market competition, and innovation of utilities: Evidence from Japanese electric sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 403-413.
    24. 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.
    25. Global Energy Assessment Writing Team,, 2012. "Global Energy Assessment," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107005198.
    26. Bronwyn Hall, 2004. "The financing of research and development," Chapters, in: Anthony Bartzokas & Sunil Mani (ed.), Financial Systems, Corporate Investment in Innovation, and Venture Capital, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    27. Sterlacchini, Alessandro, 2012. "Energy R&D in private and state-owned utilities: An analysis of the major world electric companies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 494-506.
    28. D’Este, Pablo & Iammarino, Simona & Savona, Maria & von Tunzelmann, Nick, 2012. "What hampers innovation? Revealed barriers versus deterring barriers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 482-488.
    29. Richter, Mario, 2013. "Business model innovation for sustainable energy: German utilities and renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1226-1237.
    30. Leo Urban Wangler, 2013. "Renewables and innovation: did policy induced structural change in the energy sector effect innovation in green technologies?," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 211-237, March.
    31. Crepon, B. & Duguet, E. & Mairesse, J., 1998. "Research Investment, Innovation and Productivity: An Econometric Analysis at the Firm Level," Papiers d'Economie Mathématique et Applications 98.15, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    32. Bointner, Raphael, 2014. "Innovation in the energy sector: Lessons learnt from R&D expenditures and patents in selected IEA countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 733-747.
    33. Frederique Savignac, 2008. "Impact Of Financial Constraints On Innovation: What Can Be Learned From A Direct Measure?," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(6), pages 553-569.
    34. Kim, Jihwan & Kim, Yeonbae & Flacher, David, 2012. "R&D investment of electricity-generating firms following industry restructuring," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 103-117.
    35. Veugelers, Reinhilde & Cassiman, Bruno, 1999. "Make and buy in innovation strategies: evidence from Belgian manufacturing firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 63-80, January.
    36. Popp, David & Newell, Richard, 2012. "Where does energy R&D come from? Examining crowding out from energy R&D," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 980-991.
    37. Jean-Luc Gaffard & Evens Salies (ed.), 2010. "Innovation, Economic Growth and the Firm," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13101.
    38. Cohen, Wesley M., 2010. "Fifty Years of Empirical Studies of Innovative Activity and Performance," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 129-213, Elsevier.
    39. Global Energy Assessment Writing Team,, 2012. "Global Energy Assessment," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521182935.
    40. Justin Doran & Geraldine Ryan, 2016. "The Importance of the Diverse Drivers and Types of Environmental Innovation for Firm Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 102-119, February.
    41. Paroma Sanyal & Linda R. Cohen, 2009. "Powering Progress: Restructuring, Competition, and R&D in the U.S. Electric Utility Industry," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 41-80.
    42. Pellegrino, Gabriele & Savona, Maria, 2013. "Is money all? Financing versus knowledge and demand constraints to innovation," MERIT Working Papers 2013-029, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    43. Werner Bönte & Christian Dienes, 2013. "Environmental Innovations and Strategies for the Development of New Production Technologies: Empirical Evidence from Europe," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(8), pages 501-516, December.
    44. Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2012. "Which policy instruments to induce clean innovating?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 1770-1778.
    45. Wiesenthal, Tobias & Leduc, Guillaume & Haegeman, Karel & Schwarz, Hans-Günther, 2012. "Bottom-up estimation of industrial and public R&D investment by technology in support of policy-making: The case of selected low-carbon energy technologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 116-131.
    46. Aija Leiponen & Constance E. Helfat, 2010. "Innovation objectives, knowledge sources, and the benefits of breadth," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 224-236, February.
    47. Costa-Campi, M.T. & García-Quevedo, J. & Martínez-Ros, E., 2017. "What are the determinants of investment in environmental R&D?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 455-465.
    48. Jamasb, Tooraj & Pollitt, Michael, 2008. "Liberalisation and R&D in network industries: The case of the electricity industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6-7), pages 995-1008, July.
    49. Bruno Cassiman & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2006. "In Search of Complementarity in Innovation Strategy: Internal R& D and External Knowledge Acquisition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(1), pages 68-82, January.
    50. García-Quevedo, José & Pellegrino, Gabriele & Vivarelli, Marco, 2014. "R&D drivers and age: Are young firms different?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1544-1556.
    51. 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)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lorenzo Ardito & Javier Carrillo‐Hermosilla & Pablo del Río & Pierpaolo Pontrandolfo, 2019. "Sustainable innovation: Processes, strategies, and outcomes," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(5), pages 1009-1011, September.
    2. Jamasb, Tooraj & Llorca, Manuel & Meeus, Leonardo & Schittekatte, Tim, 2020. "Energy Network Innovation for Green Transition: Economic Issues and Regulatory Options," Working Papers 18-2020, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.

    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. Costa-Campi, M.T. & Duch-Brown, N. & García-Quevedo, J., 2014. "R&D drivers and obstacles to innovation in the energy industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 20-30.
    2. Costa-Campi, M.T. & Duch-Brown, N. & García-Quevedo, J., 2014. "R&D drivers and obstacles to innovation in the energy industry," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 20-30.
    3. María Teresa Costa-Campi & Jose García-Quevedo, 2017. "Why do manufacturing industries invest in energy R&D?," Working Papers 2017/20, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    4. Enrique Loredo & Nuria Lopez-Mielgo & Gustavo Pineiro-Villaverde & María Teresa García-Álvarez, 2019. "Utilities: Innovation and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-13, February.
    5. Inglesi-Lotz, R., 2019. "Energy research and R&D indicators: An LMDI decomposition analysis for the IEA Big 5 in energy research," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    6. Wang, Nan & Mogi, Gento, 2017. "Deregulation, market competition, and innovation of utilities: Evidence from Japanese electric sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 403-413.
    7. Nestor Duch-Brown & Andrea de Panizza & Ibrahim Kholilul Rohman, 2016. "Innovation and productivity in a S&T intensive sector: the case of Information industries in Spain," JRC Research Reports JRC101847, Joint Research Centre.
    8. Grazia Cecere & Nicoletta Corrocher & Maria Luisa Mancusi, 2020. "Financial constraints and public funding of eco-innovation: empirical evidence from European SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 285-302, January.
    9. Pinget, Amandine, 2016. "Spécificités des déterminants des innovations environnementales : une approche appliquée aux PME [Specificities of determinants for environmental innovation : an approach applied to SMEs]," MPRA Paper 80108, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Ester Martínez‐Ros & Rasi Kunapatarawong, 2019. "Green innovation and knowledge: The role of size," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 1045-1059, September.
    11. Giovanni Marin & Alberto Marzucchi & Roberto Zoboli, 2014. "SMEs and Barriers to Eco-Innovation in EU: A Diverse Palette of Greens," SEEDS Working Papers 0614, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Apr 2014.
    12. Arza, Valeria & López, Emanuel, 2021. "Obstacles affecting innovation in small and medium enterprises: Quantitative analysis of the Argentinean manufacturing sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    13. Giovanni Marin & Alberto Marzucchi & Roberto Zoboli, 2015. "SMEs and barriers to Eco-innovation in the EU: exploring different firm profiles," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 671-705, July.
    14. He, Yiqing & Ding, Xin & Yang, Chuchu, 2021. "Do environmental regulations and financial constraints stimulate corporate technological innovation? Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    15. Gabriele Pellegrino, 2015. "Barriers to innovation: can firm age help lower them?," Working Papers 2015/3, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    16. Enrique Acebo & José‐Ángel Miguel‐Dávila & Mariano Nieto, 2021. "External stakeholder engagement: Complementary and substitutive effects on firms' eco‐innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2671-2687, July.
    17. José García-Quevedo & Gabriele Pellegrino & Maria Savona, 2017. "Reviving demand-pull perspectives: The effect of demand uncertainty and stagnancy on R&D strategy," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 41(4), pages 1087-1122.
    18. García-Quevedo, José & Segarra-Blasco, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2018. "Financial constraints and the failure of innovation projects," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 127-140.
    19. Luigi Aldieri & Maxim Kotsemir & Concetto Paolo Vinci, 2020. "The role of environmental innovation through the technological proximity in the implementation of the sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 493-502, February.
    20. Misraku Molla Ayalew & Zhang Xianzhi & Yidersal Dagnaw Dinberu & Demis Hailegebreal Hailu, 2020. "The Determinants of Firm’s Innovation in Africa," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 527-567, September.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

    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:wly:corsem:v:26:y:2019:i:5:p:1073-1085. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    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.