Science, technology, and ecological crisis: Examining ecological modernization theory through patent data

Ecological modernization refers to the process through which the state and industry resolve ecological crises through radical improvements in resource efficiency and the substitution of environmentally harmful industrial processes for less harmful ones without undermining existing relations of economic production. While numerous studies cast doubt on the theory of ecological modernization, existing analyses do not fully address the theory’s core hypothesis on the relationship between technological innovation and environmental impacts. I resolve this problem by using newly available global patent data on environmental technologies across 35 countries from 1982-2016. Results demonstrate that as a nation’s technology sector increases its development of environmental technologies, its per capita ecological footprint declines. However, the marginal effect of technological development is too small to offer a meaningful path toward ecological sustainability through technological innovation alone. I conclude by remarking on the implications of this study for social theory and environmental policy.