Attitudes of SMEs Toward the Elements of Eco-efficiency: The Turkish Case

Fatih Cemil Ozbugday, Derya Fındık, Sıdıka Başçı and Kıvılcım Metin Özcan
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Derya Fındık: Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University
Kıvılcım Metin Özcan: Social Sciences University of Ankara

A chapter in Regulations in the Energy Industry, 2020, pp 147-168 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Eco-efficiency is achieved by creating more value with less environmental impact. Since small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are responsible for most of the production in the industrial output, their adoption of and awareness about elements of eco-efficiency is crucial for green growth. In this study, we investigate the attitudes of Turkish SMEs over three items concerning eco-efficiency: (1) increasing resource efficiency investments, (2) producing more environmentally compatible “green” products or services, and (3) the consumption of energy from renewable resources. To this end, we utilize data on Turkish SMEs from the 2017 wave of the Flash Eurobarometer, Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Resource Efficiency and Green Markets (GESIS) dataset and conduct descriptive analyses. Our investigation of 299 SMEs from Turkey reveals that there is a distance between Turkish SMEs and the elements of eco-efficiency. Many firms criticize the administrative and legal barriers to resource efficiency investments and acknowledge the need for external support to improve resource efficiency. The results also indicate that most of Turkish SMEs are unwilling to produce green products or services. Furthermore, only a small fraction of the SMEs relies on renewable sources for self-generation. As SMEs construct a sizeable portion of the output in the economy, these results show that the contribution of SMEs to green growth will be lacking in the coming years, unless further action is taken, and supported by the Turkish government.

Keywords: Eco-efficiency; Resource efficiency; Renewable energy; SMEs; Turkey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-030-32296-0_9

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-32296-0_9

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