Patterns of innovation and organizational demography in emerging sustainable fields: An analysis of the chemical sector

Marianna Epicoco ()
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Marianna Epicoco: BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: This paper examines the patterns of environmental innovation in the chemical sector and focuses in particular on detecting whether the rise of sustainable chemistry technologies (SCT) has stimulated the emergence of new organizations. This question is important to assess the extent to which SCT are sustaining the technological advantage of industry incumbents or are creating opportunities for new firms aspiring to develop radically new environmental innovations. We found that SCT still represent a relatively low proportion of chemical technologies and that they have not stimulated, in a significant way, the emergence of new firms. However, the importance of new firms has grown in the last 20 years and their technologies seem to have a higher potential of radicalness than incumbents' technologies. This indicates that, although incumbents' advantage remains strong, a small group of young firms has started to weaken such advantage. Moreover, the important role played by research organizations in generating SCT may signal that technological opportunities are expanding and that some governments, in particular the US government, are committed to develop SCT. These results suggest that, if supported by effective policies, technological ferment in the field, which at the present appears still limited, has a potential of growth.

Keywords: Radical environmental innovation; Organizational demography; Technological ferment; Chemical sector; Patent analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-03
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.univ-lorraine.fr/hal-03381224v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published in Research Policy, 2016, 45 (2), pp.427-441. ⟨10.1016/j.respol.2015.10.013⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03381224

DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2015.10.013

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