Marianna Gilli

A Survey of the Literature on Environmental Innovation Based on Main Path Analysis

This paper reviews the literature on environmental innovation (EI) and systematizes it by means of an original methodology identifying the main directions in which the literature on EI has developed over time. In order to do so, two algorithms are adopted and used to analyze a citation network of journal articles and books. The main path analysis reveals that this literature revolves around the following topics: i) determinants of EI; ii) economic effects of EI; iii) environmental effects of EI; and iv) policy inducement in EI. Each of these topics is discussed and implications from the main findings as well as possible future research extensions are outlined.

Analysing the interactions of energy and climate policies in a broad policy ‘optimality’ framework: the Italian case study

The paper investigates the effectiveness and efficiency of energy-environmental policy interactions in Italy, adopting a broad optimality perspective that includes policy feasibility and dynamic efficiency. The analysis highlights that though some complementarity among different policies exists, climate policies have been often undermined by energy and renewables policy. Nevertheless, some complementarities among policy landscapes are found, as in the case of the Kyoto Fund (climate policy) and of the incentives and funding towards thermal energy, both acting as a complementary tool to cover non-EU-ETS sectors. Overall, renewables oriented policies bring about efficacy, but this often occurs at the expenses of their efficiency, thus generating a trade-off between these two components of optimality. Finally, incentives for renewables and energy efficiency investments give a mixed signal to improve innovation and to stimulate the green sector. In conclusion, notwithstanding efficacy is present in some cases, cost effectiveness and efficiency are far from being achieved.

Sustainable development and industrial development: Manufacturing environmental performance, technology and consumption/production perspectives

ABSTRACT Industrial development has always been seen as the main engine for economic growth due to its large economic multiplier and technological opportunities. However, manufacturing sectors are directly and indirectly responsible for a large share of overall environmental pressures, raising concerns for the environmental sustainability of manufacturing-based development. In this paper, we evaluate the drivers and decoupling trends of environmental pressures arising (directly or indirectly) from manufacturing production and consumption for a large selection of developed and developing countries. As a first step, we decompose changes in emission intensity of manufacturing sectors into a series of components by means of a shift-share analysis to identify the main drivers of change. A second step will compare direct environmental pressures generated by manufacturing sectors (production perspective) with the amount of emissions generated (domestically and abroad) by the domestic consumption of manufacturing goods (consumption perspective). Finally, we evaluate the possible emergence of an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) dynamics for production and consumption perspective emissions for the world as a whole and for different continents. Results highlight that first, high income countries are generally more environmental friendly than the average and tend to be specialised in high-tech and greener sectors. Second, emission reduction is driven mainly by unobserved factors such as institutional quality and policy commitment. Finally, while production perspective shows some evidence of EKC dynamics, this result does not hold when shifting to the consumption perspective. Besides, some world area is able to compensate the growth effect exploiting technology dynamics.

Do Motivations Crowd in Recycling Policies? Evidence from Italy

This chapter, finally, considers both motivations and waste policies as determinants of people’s waste-related behaviour, with a specific focus on recycling. It analyses how waste collection policies can incentivize household recycling behaviours and whether individual motivations are capable of crowding-in policy efficacies, especially when the efforts required by agents are high. We exploit a new survey of 618 Italian families that reports information on the opinions and stated actual recycling behaviours of the respondents with respect to five different waste materials. The results of our empirical analysis show that collection policies oriented at reducing time opportunity costs increase household recycling behaviours, and it is extremely relevant that policies are efficiently managed, lest discouraging effects occur. Moreover, individual motivations matter and may overcome possible weaknesses in waste policies, for example, by reducing the negative effects of ‘distance’ between households and recycling centres.

Individual Motivations and Waste-Related Behaviours

This chapter is devoted to the analysis of individuals’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivations behind pro-social behaviours, focusing particularly on the waste management context. Drivers different from the pecuniary ones are considered to incentivize people to undertake waste reduction and recycling. The possible interrelationships between the two waste management behaviours are investigated and some field experiment studies have been reported that contribute to a better understanding of the motivations that lead people to adopt pro-social behaviour in the waste realm.

Waste Policies and Individual Behaviours

This chapter investigates waste policies that may affect individuals’ behaviour towards waste minimization and recycling. Both market base mechanisms, as unit-based pricing for unsorted waste, and technical policies, as adoption of curbside or drop-off systems are considered. The strength and weakness of each mechanism as drivers of people’s waste-related behaviours are highlighted.

Prevention and Recycling Behaviours Across the EU

This chapter investigates the correlation between individual motivation and households’ waste minimization and recycling. Individuals act based upon intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the first one being something that comes from within the person itself and the second being conditioned on the receiving of an external reward. We aim to assess if one type of motivation is more correlated with one of the two behaviours (minimization and recycling) or the other. Using Eurobarometer data, we note that extrinsic motivation has a higher effect on sorting habits than on minimization behaviour while the reverse is true for intrinsic motivation. Conversely, intrinsic motivation plays a major role in prevention and for the recycling of particular kind of wastes such as hazardous waste.

Backing environmental innovations through information technology adoption. Empirical analyses of innovation-related complementarity in firms

AbstractThe paper tests empirically whether various types of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) adoption and other innovation practices (techno-organisational change and training courses) are complementary inputs with respect to the adoption of specific environmental innovations (EI). The analysis is based on original survey data for a large industrial Italian region (Emilia-Romagna), which offer various views on ICT and EI relationships. This survey contains information on the adoption of environmental innovations and some detailed information on ICT issues and other technological-organisational processes. Our main findings suggest that, overall, complementarity does not seem to characterize the relationship between ICT and other innovation processes as a force behind environmental innovation, but some important exceptions emerge. Complementarities exists, for instance, between technological innovation and both adoption of ICT management systems and ICT for cooperation with clients. Interes...