Page 304 - Hojnik, Jana. 2017. In Persuit of Eco-innovation. Drivers and Consequences of Eco-innovation at Firm Level. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 304
In Pursuit of Eco-innovation
expected period of return on investment and the size of the return on in-
vestment for each eco-innovation type.
Moreover, we have adopted a cross-sectional study design, while a
longitudinal design would be more appropriate for exploring cause-and-
effect relationships (i.e., drivers and outcomes of eco-innovations). In fu-
ture research, it would thus be meaningful to perform a longitudinal
study, since eco-innovation effects on company performance are known
to have a few years’ lag (especially concerning company growth and prof-
itability). A longitudinal study would explain the process of eco-innova-
tion, especially in terms of which drivers of eco-innovation are impor-
tant in the development phase and which in the adoption and diffusion
phase. Knowing the drivers for all stages of eco-innovation would in-
deed be an important insight. Moreover, we could also obtain deeper in-
304 sights, such as when a certain type of eco-innovation becomes profitable
(bearing in mind that investments in cleaner technology can pay off af-
ter several years, while investment in end-of-pipe technology mainly ben-
efits the environment rather than the company) and when different types
of eco-innovation provide a return on investment. A longitudinal study
would help to answer the question of whether eco-innovations over time
only cover or offset the investment costs or really turn out to be lucra-
tive for companies and offer them a first-mover advantage on the market.
Pertaining to the effect of eco-innovations on company performance, we
have found some statistically significant results in our study, but we were
not able to support the hypotheses about company growth and profitabil-
ity for all eco-innovation types. Therefore, further work and research on
this topic related to companies’ profitability indicators ratios (i.e., growth
in number of sales and employees, ROA, ROE and ROS) is recommend-
ed in order to clarify and understand the association between eco-inno-
vations and company performance. In future research, more information
(e.g., time of investment and resources invested in eco-innovation) would
help us to establish a greater degree of accuracy on this matter. In the fu-
ture, we will repeat this study in order to again estimate and analyze the
relationship between eco-innovations and company performance after a
few years’ lag, to see and control whether and how the results change over
time.
In future research, it would also be interesting to control the rate of
R&D investment in eco-innovations. Several researchers (Ziegler and
Rennings 2004; Rennings et al. 2006) found a positive and significant ef-
fect of R&D activities on implementation of product and process eco-in-
novation, while others (Rehfeld et al. 2007) found a weak effect of R&D
expected period of return on investment and the size of the return on in-
vestment for each eco-innovation type.
Moreover, we have adopted a cross-sectional study design, while a
longitudinal design would be more appropriate for exploring cause-and-
effect relationships (i.e., drivers and outcomes of eco-innovations). In fu-
ture research, it would thus be meaningful to perform a longitudinal
study, since eco-innovation effects on company performance are known
to have a few years’ lag (especially concerning company growth and prof-
itability). A longitudinal study would explain the process of eco-innova-
tion, especially in terms of which drivers of eco-innovation are impor-
tant in the development phase and which in the adoption and diffusion
phase. Knowing the drivers for all stages of eco-innovation would in-
deed be an important insight. Moreover, we could also obtain deeper in-
304 sights, such as when a certain type of eco-innovation becomes profitable
(bearing in mind that investments in cleaner technology can pay off af-
ter several years, while investment in end-of-pipe technology mainly ben-
efits the environment rather than the company) and when different types
of eco-innovation provide a return on investment. A longitudinal study
would help to answer the question of whether eco-innovations over time
only cover or offset the investment costs or really turn out to be lucra-
tive for companies and offer them a first-mover advantage on the market.
Pertaining to the effect of eco-innovations on company performance, we
have found some statistically significant results in our study, but we were
not able to support the hypotheses about company growth and profitabil-
ity for all eco-innovation types. Therefore, further work and research on
this topic related to companies’ profitability indicators ratios (i.e., growth
in number of sales and employees, ROA, ROE and ROS) is recommend-
ed in order to clarify and understand the association between eco-inno-
vations and company performance. In future research, more information
(e.g., time of investment and resources invested in eco-innovation) would
help us to establish a greater degree of accuracy on this matter. In the fu-
ture, we will repeat this study in order to again estimate and analyze the
relationship between eco-innovations and company performance after a
few years’ lag, to see and control whether and how the results change over
time.
In future research, it would also be interesting to control the rate of
R&D investment in eco-innovations. Several researchers (Ziegler and
Rennings 2004; Rennings et al. 2006) found a positive and significant ef-
fect of R&D activities on implementation of product and process eco-in-
novation, while others (Rehfeld et al. 2007) found a weak effect of R&D
