Innovation strategies of energy firms

Maria Costa-Campi, Néstor Duch-Brown () and Jose Garcia-Quevedo
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Néstor Duch-Brown: Institute for Prospective Technological Studies
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Néstor Duch Brown

No 2016/28, Working Papers from Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB)

Abstract: Investment by energy firms in innovation can have substantial economic and environmental impacts and benefits. Internal R&D is the main input and driver of the innovation process, but innovation involves other activities, including capital purchases and other current expenditures. While the R&D activities of energy firms have been analysed, few studies have examined the typology of their innovation activities. Here, we analyse the impact of the main characteristics of the sector’s firms on their decisions to invest in each of three types of innovation activity: namely internal R&D; external R&D; and, the acquisition of advanced machinery, equipment or software. In conducting this analysis, we take the potential persistence of innovation activities into account. We also examine the role that different innovation objectives have on firms’ investment decisions. Given that engagement in a specific type of innovation may result from decisions that are not taken independently of each other, we analyse whether there is any complementarity between the three innovation activities. In carrying out the empirical analysis, we draw on data for private energy firms included in the Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for Spanish firms for the period 2004-2013. We use panel triprobit models to examine potential complementarity.

Keywords: Energy; R&D; innovation; regulation; complementarity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L94 O32 Q40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 53 pages
Date: 2016
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-ene, nep-eur, nep-ino, nep-sbm and nep-tid
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Journal Article: Innovation strategies of energy firms (2019)
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