A Taxonomy of Eco-Innovation Types in SMEs: Exploring Different Firm Profiles in the Canadian Wine Industry

Abstract

The paper examines eco-innovation strategies in the Canadian wine industry. It uses firm-level data of 151 wine firms that developed eco-innovations between 2015 and 2017 to build a taxonomy of four eco-innovation strategies: (i) eco-innovation laggers, (ii) product-oriented eco-innovators, (iii) process-oriented eco-innovators, and (iv) fully integrated eco-innovators. We then characterize these eco-innovation strategies with respect to firm-level innovation capabilities, firms’ knowledge openness, and firms’ specific characteristics. The results reveal heterogeneity in eco-innovation strategies and show that these strategies exhibit different configurations of innovation-related conditions and firm characteristics.

Innovative Green Initiatives in the Manufacturing SME Sector in Poland

“…Besides, through the operationalization of the acquired eco-innovation capacities, SMEs can place a greater emphasis on creating value for customers and thus ensure synergies between innovation and sustainable development initiatives [41]. However, in order to avoid errors in the implementation of eco-innovation, it will be necessary to know its types and the factors determining its diffusion [69].…”

What are the drivers of eco-innovation? Empirical evidence from French start-ups

“…Several studies have highlighted the influence of the internal characteristics of firms on eco-innovation (Castellacci and Lie, 2017;Doloreux and Kraft, 2019;Triguero et al, 2016). Among those drivers internal to the firm, the availability of resources (people, technology, and know-how) stands out as a critical determinant (Pacheco et al, 2018).…”

“…Leaders are highly eco-innovative, while laggards have a low level of eco-innovation and reduced environmental impact. Doloreux and Kraft (2019) and Castellacci and Lie (2017) study the main determinants of different types of eco-innovations. Doloreux and Kraft (2019) measure the intensity of eco-innovation by the diversity of ecoinnovations developed (products and processes).…”

“…1 The typology has been elaborated on the basis of three main factors related to the determinants of environmental innovation: technology push, market pull, and regulation. Some of them go further in their analysis by taking into account the factor of cooperation and the diffusion of knowledge (Castellacci and Lie, 2017;Doloreux and Kraft, 2019). Another area of the literature is concerned with studying the typologies of sustainable entrepreneurship.…”

“…First, the literature has investigated the determinants of ecoinnovation from the perspective of the context (e.g., environmental policy (Guo et al, 2022)), the firm (e.g., internal resources (Demirel and Kesidou, 2019)), or the products/services (e.g., eco-innovations as market drivers (Ghisetti, 2017)); yet despite the existence of some integrative research (Castellacci and Lie, 2017;Doloreux and Kraft, 2019;Kammerer, 2009), there are no empirical studies on ecoinnovation in start-ups that bring together all these dimensions combined with the entrepreneurs' characteristics (e.g., motivation and individual features). In doing so, we extend the previous literature on the determinants of eco-innovation to the specific context of eco-innovative start-ups.…”