Blog Post
Exports can speed Europe’s environmental innovation
Firms’ export activities can improve the environmental performance by accelerating the adoption of cleaner technologies (e.g. Batrakova and Davies 2012; Richter and Schiersch 2017; Cherniwchan 2017). In Hanley and Semrau (2022), we contribute to the literature by investigating the ability of exports to trigger the adoption of environmental innovations (EIs) in European firms. We find that Eastern European exporters in particular report a higher propensity to adopt EIs, an effect that is exclusively driven by process-based EIs and not observable for product-based EIs. In addition, we show that exposure to importing countries with high market-related environmental policy stringency is associated with EI adoption regardless of a firm's origin.
Key Words
- Green-/eco-/environmental innovation
- circular economy
- environment and trade
- export activity
- green deal