Many recent papers deal with exploring and explaining the determinants of eco-innovations for different countries supporting the formulation of efficient policy measures to trigger eco-innovation activities of firms. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of econometric cross-country analyses allowing recognizing common cross-country determinants, but also country-specific characteristics of eco-innovations. Based on data from the fourth Community Innovation Survey for France and Germany, the present paper contributes to fill this gap. Using a fully harmonized econometric model for the two countries, we are able to detect remarkable similarities concerning the different determinants of eco-innovations despite differences in the national innovation systems. The results confirm the central role of regulation and cost savings as motivations for eco-innovations compared to other innovations. Furthermore, eco-innovative activities seem to require more external sources of knowledge and information. Due to the respective regulation, in France, universities as cooperation partners seem to be more important compared to Germany.

Circular economy (CE) describes a concept that aims at saving resources by minimizing the use of material and energy over the entire life‐cycle of products, including production and repair, as well as reuse and recycling. CE innovations help to realize the goals of sustainable development by targeting environmental, economic, and social dimensions of sustainability. This paper looks at the economic and social dimensions by investigating whether firms with CE innovations perform better or worse in terms of sales growth and employment. Our econometric analysis uses data from two waves of the German part of the Community Innovation Survey. Quantile regressions show that CE innovations are positively linked to turnover and employment growth. While there is no statistically significant impact on labor productivity, at the same time, firms with CE innovations show a significantly better financial standing.

This article provides a critical literature review on the regional determinants of environmental innovation. The analysis of the relevant literature on supply-side factors, demand-side factors, and institutional factors reveals the importance of regional determinants in green technology development. Specifically, regional R&D collaborations, university-industry collaborations, and technological relatedness have positive effects on innovation activities in green domains. On the demand side, regional environmental awareness and demonstration effects play a pivotal role in the emergence and diffusion of environmental innovations. Environmental regulations also induce environmental innovation, however, there is only limited evidence at the regional level. Our literature review has informed the development of an agenda for future research, which suggests three avenues for further investigation. Firstly, we recommend abandoning the simple green vs. non-green dichotomy and conducting more technology-sensitive studies on the determinants of environmental innovation. Secondly, we call for a more sophisticated and critical engagement with regional institutions, with a focus on both formal and informal institutions. Lastly, we propose a demand-side turn in research on the regional determinants of environmental innovation in order to better understand their diffusion across space. Overall, our findings suggest that policymakers need to adopt a more nuanced and comprehensive approach to eco-innovation policy, one that considers the spatial and multi-level governance challenges and promotes inclusive regional development.

A fast adoption and diffusion of green technologies will be essential for a successful transition of the world’s economies towards more sustainable modes of production and consumption. This article investigates the speed of green technology diffusion in China using a unique data set, which lists geocoded patent licence agreements for green technologies from 2000–2019. We focus on the relation between spatial determinants, including geographic proximity and regional technological specialisation, and the time-to-adoption, thus analysing the factors explaining the time between technology development (patent application) and technology adoption (licencing). The main finding is that geographic proximity to the innovator is associated with an accelerated time-to-adoption. Moreover, we find that the more a region specialises in green technologies, the faster a patent is licenced within that region.