Sustainability Transitions in Baltic Sea Shipping: Exploring the Responses of Firms to Regulatory Changes

Ignė Stalmokaitė and Johanna Yliskylä-Peuralahti
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Ignė Stalmokaitė: School of Natural Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies, Södertörn University, SE-14189 Huddinge, Sweden
Johanna Yliskylä-Peuralahti: Centre for Maritime Studies, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-23

Abstract: This study investigates how the introduction of more stringent environmental regulation regarding sulphur and nitrogen emission control areas induced shipping companies to react to a new situation and opened up a window of opportunity for build-up of niches for alternative vessel energy sources. By drawing on a multi-level perspective from the socio-technical transition literature, the study provides empirical evidence for how realignments in the environmental regulatory regime alter incumbent actors’ positions and produce varying environmental innovation responses to reduce air-borne pollution from shipping. The study illustrates that the stringency of a regional command-and-control regulation in combination with evolving pressures in the external landscape environment and shipping companies’ task environments are essential components shaping the adoption of environmental innovations. Although incremental innovations seem to dominate in a fossil fuel-based maritime transportation socio-technical system, our results demonstrate the role of regulations and the behaviour of frontrunners in the context of regime fragmentation and sustainability transition processes.

Keywords: sustainability transitions; environmental innovations; multi-level perspective; Baltic Sea shipping; incumbent companies; sulphur and nitrogen emission regulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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