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Green chemistry and green engineering in China: drivers, policies and barriers to innovation

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  • Matus, Kira J. M.
  • Xiao, Xin
  • Zimmerman, Julie B.

Abstract

With the world’s largest population and consistently rapid rates of economic growth, China faces a choice of whether it will move towards a more sustainable development trajectory. This paper identifies the different factors driving innovation in the fields of green chemistry and green engineering in China, which we find to be largely driven by energy efficiency policy, increasingly strict enforcement of pollution regulations, and national attention to cleaner production concepts, such as “circular economy.” We also identify seven key barriers to the development and implementation of green chemistry and engineering in China. They are (1) competition between economic growth and environmental agendas, (2) regulatory and bureaucratic barriers, (3) availability of research funding, (4) technical barriers, (5)workforce training, (6) industrial engineering capacity, and (7) economic and financial barriers. Our analysis reveals that the most crucial barriers to green chemistry and engineering nnovations in China appear to be those that arise from competing priorities of economic growth and environmental protection as well as the technical challenges that arise from possessing a smaller base of experienced human capital. We find that there is a great deal of potential for both the development of the underlying science, as well as its implementation throughout the chemical enterprise, especially if investment occurs before problems of technological lock-in and sunk costs emerge.

Suggested Citation

  • Matus, Kira J. M. & Xiao, Xin & Zimmerman, Julie B., 2012. "Green chemistry and green engineering in China: drivers, policies and barriers to innovation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 43535, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:43535
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    Cited by:

    1. Mathivathanan, Deepak & Mathiyazhagan, K. & Khorana, Sangeeta & Rana, Nripendra P. & Arora, Bimal, 2022. "Drivers of circular economy for small and medium enterprises: Case study on the Indian state of Tamil Nadu," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 997-1015.
    2. Armaghan Chizaryfard & Paolo Trucco & Cali Nuur, 2021. "The transformation to a circular economy: framing an evolutionary view," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 475-504, April.
    3. Wu, Kuo-Jui & Liao, Ching-Jong & Chen, Chih-Cheng & Lin, Yuanhsu & Tsai, Chuck F.M., 2016. "Exploring eco-innovation in dynamic organizational capability under incomplete information in the Taiwanese lighting industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(PB), pages 419-440.
    4. Chien, Fengsheng & Ngo, Quang-Thanh & Hsu, Ching-Chi & Chau, Ka Yin & Iram, Robina, 2021. "Assessing the mechanism of barriers towards green finance and public spending in small and medium enterprises from developed countries," MPRA Paper 109668, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Clark, William C. & Anastas, Paul T. & Zimmerman, Julie B. & Matus, Kira Jen Mendelsohn, 2012. "Barriers to the Implementation of Green Chemistry in the United States," Scholarly Articles 9639957, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    6. Fengsheng Chien & Hafiz Waqas Kamran & Muhammad Atif Nawaz & Nguyen Ngoc Thach & Pham Dinh Long & Zulfiqar Ali Baloch, 2022. "Assessing the prioritization of barriers toward green innovation: small and medium enterprises Nexus," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 1897-1927, February.
    7. Lahcene Makhloufi & Abderrazak Ahmed Laghouag & Tang Meirun & Fateh Belaid, 2022. "Impact of green entrepreneurship orientation on environmental performance: The natural resource‐based view and environmental policy perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 425-444, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    green chemistry; innovation; sustainable development; China; circular economy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

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