Purpose: This paper aims to explore in depth how internal and external knowledge-based drivers actually affect the firms’ green innovation performance. Subsequently, this study analyzes the relationships between absorptive capacity (internal knowledge-based driver), relationship learning (external knowledge-based driver) and green innovation performance.Design/methodology/approach: This study relies on a sample of 112 firms belonging to the Spanish automotive components manufacturing sector (ACMS) and uses partial least squares path modeling to test the hypotheses proposed.Findings: The empirical results show that both absorptive capacity and relationship learning exert a significant positive effect on the dependent variable and that relationship learning moderates the link between absorptive capacity and green innovation performance.Research limitations/implications: This paper presents some limitations with respect to the particular sector (i.e. the ACMS) and geographical context (Spain). For this reason, researchers must be thoughtful while generalizing these results to distinct scenarios.Practical implications: Managers should devote more time and resources to reinforce their absorptive capacity as an important strategic tool to generate new knowledge and hence foster green innovation performance in manufacturing industries.Social implications: The paper shows the importance of encouraging decision-makers to cultivate and rely on relationship learning mechanisms with their main stakeholders and to acquire the necessary information and knowledge that might be valuable in the maturity of green innovations.Originality/value: This study proposes that relationship learning plays a moderating role in the relationship between absorptive capacity and green innovation performance.

The topic of green innovation (GI) has increasingly attained organizational relevance due to its contribution to the satisfaction of environmental needs while concurrently enabling companies to differentiate themselves from their competitors, and hence attain sustainable competitive advantages. In this context, we conducted a detailed analysis of 618 papers on green innovation from the Web of Science (WoS) database for the 1971–2015 period. This paper develops a bibliometric analysis with the aim of assessing the key papers in the field and identifying the most substantive contributions to the literature. This study presents the following findings: (i) the chronological development of the discipline; (ii) the research trends and popular issues in this field; (iii) the antecedent variables acting as key drivers of GI in these studies; and (iv) the main outcomes of GI. Therefore, this paper provides the past, the present and the potential future of this specific topic and serves as an orientation and guide for researchers who are new to the topic of GI; it also enhances their knowledge concerning which journals, authors and articles they may consult while creating their theoretical framework or designing future research models.

Nowadays, companies need to absorb new knowledge from external sources to grasp environmental issues. However, the internal mechanisms through which external knowledge is turned into green innovations remain scarcely addressed. Hence, this paper aims to investigate the relationships between the two dimensions of absorptive capacity (potential and realized) with green products and process innovation performance. This study contributes to the literature by disentangling how companies need to acquire, assimilate, transform and exploit external environmental knowledge to develop green innovations. To this aim, this empirical study is based on a sample shaped by 112 firms belonging to the Spanish automotive components manufacturing sector. The results provide evidence to show that potential and realized absorptive capacities are positively related to both green product innovation performance and green process innovation performance.