IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-04242573.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Innovations and the circular economy: a national and regional perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Davide Antonioli

    (UniFE - Università degli Studi di Ferrara = University of Ferrara)

  • Elisa Chioatto

    (UniFE - Università degli Studi di Ferrara = University of Ferrara)

  • Massimiliano Mazzanti

    (UniFE - Università degli Studi di Ferrara = University of Ferrara)

Abstract

The introduction of innovative practices compatible with the objectives of the circular economy is one of the main enablers for transforming current production patterns towards more sustainable and competitive systems. Understanding whether and to what extent firms are introducing circular-oriented innovations allows monitoring where we stand in the circular transition and thus which further efforts are needed to achieve a resource-efficient economy. This study is based on data from two surveys on Small and Medium Enterprises: the first one reaches 4565 companies located throughout Italy (in the two-year period 207-2018) and the second one focuses on 1603 companies operating in the Emilia-Romagna region (in the three-year period 2017-2019). The analysis is aimed at offering a broad picture of the level of involvement of national and regional firms in the implementation of circular innovation. Despite the overall positive performance, there appears to be a fragmented adoption of circular innovation in terms of firms' size, technological intensity of the sectors and in accordance with the geography and the productive specialization of the territory. In general, circular innovation mainly involves firms operating in low-technology-intensity sectors in Southern Italy and more technological intensive sectors in Northern Italy and it is more widespread among large firms. On the contrary, in Emilia-Romagna, the distribution of circular innovation mainly concerns mediumsized firms, especially those belonging to low and medium technology-intensive sectors, moreover companies in the provinces of Modena and Parma show higher adoption rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Davide Antonioli & Elisa Chioatto & Massimiliano Mazzanti, 2022. "Innovations and the circular economy: a national and regional perspective," Post-Print hal-04242573, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04242573
    DOI: 10.9770/ird.2022.4.1(4)
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04242573
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-04242573/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.9770/ird.2022.4.1(4)?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. Marin, Giovanni, 2014. "Do eco-innovations harm productivity growth through crowding out? Results of an extended CDM model for Italy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 301-317.
    2. Davide Antonioli & Massimiliano Mazzanti, 2009. "Techno-organisational strategies, environmental innovations and economic performances. Micro-evidence from an SME-based industrial district," Journal of Innovation Economics, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(1), pages 145-168.
    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. Agnė Šimelytė & Manuela Tvaronavičienė, 2022. "Technology Transfer from Nordic Capital Parenting Companies to Lithuanian and Estonian Subsidiaries or Joint Capital Companies: The Analysis of the Obtained Primary Data," Data, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-23, October.
    2. Andreea-Ileana Zamfir & Elena Oana Croitoru & Cristina Burlacioiu & Cosmin Dobrin, 2022. "Renewable Energies: Economic and Energy Impact in the Context of Increasing the Share of Electric Cars in EU," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-19, 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. Giovanni Marin & Francesca Lotti, 2017. "Productivity effects of eco-innovations using data on eco-patents," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 26(1), pages 125-148.
    2. Siying Long & Zhongju Liao, 2021. "Are fiscal policy incentives effective in stimulating firms' eco‐product innovation? The moderating role of dynamic capabilities," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3095-3104, November.
    3. Kian-Guan Lim & Michelle Lim, 2020. "Financial performance of shipping firms that increase LNG carriers and the support of eco-innovation," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-25, December.
    4. Tea Petrin & Dragana Radicic, 2023. "Instrument policy mix and firm size: is there complementarity between R&D subsidies and R&D tax credits?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 181-215, February.
    5. Alessandra Colombelli & Jackie Krafft & Francesco Quatraro, 2021. "Firms’ growth, green gazelles and eco-innovation: evidence from a sample of European firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1721-1738, April.
    6. Paolo Castelnuovo & Stefano Clo & Massimo Florio, 2021. "Space policy drives innovation through technological procurement: evidence from Italy," Working Papers - Economics wp2021_08.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    7. Castelnovo, Paolo & Florio, Massimo & Forte, Stefano & Rossi, Lucio & Sirtori, Emanuela, 2018. "The economic impact of technological procurement for large-scale research infrastructures: Evidence from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1853-1867.
    8. Feng Li & Yalong Wang, 2022. "Study on the Evolutionary Game of Cooperation and Innovation in Science and Technology Town Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-23, July.
    9. Huang, Zhi-xiong & Yang, Xiandong, 2021. "Carbon emissions and firm innovation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 503-513.
    10. George van Leeuwen & Pierre Mohnen, 2017. "Revisiting the Porter hypothesis: an empirical analysis of Green innovation for the Netherlands," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1-2), pages 63-77, February.
    11. Yang, Fuxia & Yang, Mian, 2015. "Analysis on China's eco-innovations: Regulation context, intertemporal change and regional differences," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 247(3), pages 1003-1012.
    12. 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.
    13. Schubert, Torben & Jäger, Angela & Türkeli, Serdar & Visentin, Fabiana, 2020. "Addressing the productivity paradox with big data: A literature review and adaptation of the CDM econometric model," MERIT Working Papers 2020-050, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    14. Marco Grazzi & Chiara Piccardo & Cecilia Vergari, 2020. "Concordance and complementarity in IP instruments," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(7), pages 756-788, August.
    15. Clò, Stefano & Frigerio, Marco & Vandone, Daniela, 2022. "Financial support to innovation: The role of European development financial institutions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    16. Feifei Yu & Dong Jiang & Teng Wang, 2022. "The impact of green innovation on manufacturing small and medium enterprises corporate social responsibility fulfillment: The moderating role of regional environmental regulation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 712-727, May.
    17. Siying Long & Zhongju Liao, 2023. "Green relational capital, integration capabilities and environmental innovation adoption: The moderating role of normative pressures," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 1570-1580, June.
    18. 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.
    19. Castelnovo, Paolo, 2022. "Innovation in private and state-owned enterprises: A cross-industry analysis of patenting activity," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 98-113.
    20. Georg Licht & Bettina Peters & Christian Köhler & Franz Schwiebacher, 2014. "The Potential Contribution of Innovation Systems to Socio-Ecological Transition. WWWforEurope Deliverable No. 4," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 47502.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Circular Economy; Eco-Innovation; Circular Innovation; Small and Medium Enterprises; Business Models; Regional Studies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hal:journl:hal-04242573. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.