The role of frugal innovation in the global diffusion of green technologies

Abstract

The paper suggests that the debate on sustainable development and sustainable innovation could profit from the concept of frugal innovation, because both concepts acknowledge the limitations of a resource constraint world. The complex relationship between frugal innovation and sustainable innovation is explored in conceptual terms and results in criteria, which denote potential overlaps between both concepts. Furthermore, the paper analyses world trade data with green technologies to demonstrate the increasing relevance of South-South and North-South trade and to derive implications for frugal innovation. Moreover, case studies of frugal and sustainable innovations are analysed in order to highlight their requirements and implications. Maybe the most important conclusion stemming from the considerations in this article is, that the integration of frugal and sustainable innovation principles can breathe new life into the discussion about sustainable innovation and sustainable development in general.

Green growth and innovation in the Global South: a systematic literature review

“…Meanwhile, somewhat differently, Patriarca and Vona (2013) investigate income inequalities with respect to environmental technology development. Finally, a major contribution that stems directly from Global South research is frugal innovations which, in light of depleting world resources, envisions innovations much differently than traditional, R&D and financially intensive technological innovations (Gandenberger, Kroll, and Walz 2020).…”

“…As pointed out by Papaioannou (2014), innovations in the Global South behave much differently than the Global North. For example frugal innovations, which are not at all explored in the Global North research, demonstrate that other ideas, beyond cutting edge clean technology development, are indeed important (Gandenberger, Kroll, and Walz 2020). In addition justice concerns are frequently overlooked, even though these are very important concerns in the South.…”

Discretionary Effort on Green Technology Innovation: How Chinese Enterprises Act when Facing Financing Constraints

“…It can be concluded from Table 4 that the increase of financing constraints will force firms to reduce the applications of green invention patent. Specifically, from column (2) to column (6), the coefficients of the variable FC are significantly negative, which indicates that firms will choose to reduce the applications of green invention patent when financing constraints increase. In column (1), the coefficient of financing constraints is also negative, but not significant (t value is-1.1).…”

“…Green technology innovation mainly refers to the technological improvements that save energy, prevent pollution, or enable waste recycling [ 3 , 4 ], which is different from frugal innovation and financial innovation. Frugal innovations mainly refer to the innovation which minimize the use of material and financial resources in the complete value chain though focusing on core functionalities [ 5 , 6 ]. And financial innovation is the act of creating and then popularizing new financial instruments as well as new financial technologies, institutions and markets.…”

“…Frugal innovations mainly refer to the innovation which minimize the use of material and financial resources in the complete value chain though focusing on core functionalities [5,6]. And financial innovation is the act of creating and then popularizing new financial instruments as well as new financial technologies, institutions and markets.…”