Green Investment Challenges in European Firms: Internal vs. External Resources

Andrea Bacchiocchi, Alessandro Bellocchi and Germana Giombini
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Andrea Bacchiocchi: Department of Economics, Society, Politics (DESP), University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Saffi 42, 61029 Urbino, Italy
Alessandro Bellocchi: Department of Economics, Society, Politics (DESP), University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via Saffi 42, 61029 Urbino, Italy

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of internal and external resources on the adoption of eco-efficiency actions by European firms. The empirical analysis is based on an ordered logit model on data from the fifth wave of the Flash Eurobarometer survey (2021) for a sample of 9158 firms. We obtain three main results. First, we show that internal and external financial resources are positively correlated with firm eco-innovations, but the association with the former is stronger. Second, we observe a high degree of complementarity between public and private funds. Finally, besides financial resources, both in-house technical expertise and external non-financial assistance seem to play an important role for the implementation of eco-efficiency actions at the firm level. These findings have some relevant policy implications. European policy-makers should increase opportunities for public co-financing, while providing support to firms for developing the necessary competencies to enable green investments.

Keywords: eco-efficiency actions; funding sources; technical expertise (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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