Javier Carrillo-Hermosilla

University of Alcalá | UAH · Department of Economics and Business

An analytical framework is developed in this paper in order to explore the diversity of eco-innovations according to several key dimensions (design, user, product service and governance). The framework is used to analyse a set of case studies of eco-innnovation processes. The diversity of the analysed eco-innovations appears to be considerable; eac...

http://www.palgraveconnect.com/pc/doifinder/10.1057/9780230244856

Despite a high academic interest in eco-innovation, a clearly defined common understanding of the characteristics of eco-innovations is largely missing. Existing research on this topic is still mostly qualitative, fragmented, difficult to compare or aggregate and generally specialised on certain aspects. Quantitative research is deemed necessary to...

The circular economy (CE) and eco-innovation (EI) are two concepts deemed instrumental in achieving a sustainable transition. They have been proposed in the academic literature and by practitioners and have acquired very high public policy relevance, being endorsed by policymakers and ultimately leading to regulations supporting them. It has been a...

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the concept of the Circular Economy (CE), as well as an assessment of the drivers and barriers for circular practices by firms, and its implications for managers in firms and public policy makers. It includes proposals for policy frameworks and instruments that will encourage the uptake of CE practices....

Working Paper Series of the UAH-SANTANDER Chair of Corporate Social Responsibility, Universidad de Alcalá (ISSN: 2530-1292) Climate Change is a reality that causes serious environmental problems on a global scale. It is caused by human action, specifically by the current economic model that is inefficient with regards to resource and energy use, a...

The implementation of activities close to the circular economy (CE), such as environmental management system (EMS) and cleaner production (CP) practices, and their relationships, are expected to have positive effects on the circular and sustainability performance. However, current research has provided results in which the effects are diffuse, cont...

La innovación verde puede desempeñar un papel central en la transición a un nuevo modelo de desarrollo sostenible en la región de América Latina y el Caribe. Este documento desarrolla un marco conceptual para la intervención pública en este ámbito, considerando distintas tipologías de instrumentos y elaborando recomendaciones para la implementación...

La innovación verde puede desempeñar un papel central en la transición a un nuevo modelo de desarrollo sostenible en la región de América Latina y el Caribe. Este documento presenta una selección de estudios de casos de implementación de instrumentos de política pública que constituyen buenas prácticas internacionales. El análisis de cada programa...

The most pressing environmental challenges of our society require radical solutions that would redesign the ways we produce, deliver, and consume goods and services. However, little is known about what actually drives the development of radical eco-innovations. This paper explores the concept of Open Eco-innovation (OEI), an innovation model that l...

Although the CE has emerged as an important concept in current debates about sustainability and also in policy-making at the public sector and company levels, it has certainly not emerged from scrap. On the contrary, it builds on several previous approaches and, in turn, overlaps, contributes and interacts with them.

The aim of this chapter is to discuss some of the managerial and public policy implications deriving from the analysis of the CE at the micro-level. The former refers to measures private decision makers in firms can take in order to facilitate the uptake of circular practices in-house. The latter includes framework conditions and specific policies...

This chapter provides a thorough literature review on existing definitions, classifications and taxonomies of the CE. This is a necessary exercise, as most researchers and practitioners recognize that the CE is an “umbrella concept”. There are different approaches to circularity, and a commonly agreed definition of the CE currently does not exist....

An appropriate analysis of the adoption of CE innovations (CEIs) should be based on the application of an analytical framework which takes into account the wide array of determinants which influence their uptake. As mentioned in a previous chapter, CE innovations are a subset of all eco-innovations which, in turn, are a subset of all innovations. T...

In order to illustrate the drivers and barriers to the adoption of CE innovations at the micro-(firm) level, in this chapter, we present case studies of firms in different sectors.

The CE is a multidimensional and multi-level concept. This multidimensionality is addressed by most authors in the CE literature.

The growing concern about the environmental future of the Planet urges us to foster eco-innovation research and implementation in companies. Access to external knowledge, R&D collaboration, and open innovation are recognized as essential drivers of eco-innovation. Despite the growing interest, research on the topic is still scarce. The present arti...

The need for a sustainability transition is undisputed. Ecological innovation (eco-innovation) is a possible mechanism with which to reach a fully sustainable economy and society. Several types of eco-innovation exist, that is, end-of-pipe, efficiency or effectiveness related. While all contribute to the sustainability transition, they have differe...

Sustainable business model innovation debate is mostly focusing on the use of certain practices and tools to implement sustainable objectives in new firms. Our paper contributes to this debate examining the factors influencing the entrepreneur's election of the practices to develop sustainable business model innovation (SBMI). We conducted an empir...

Firms are influenced by internal factors (resources and capabilities) and external factors (e.g., regulation) when taking the decision to eco-innovate. However, the analysis of the internal factors has received much less attention than the external ones. This paper aims to fill this gap in the literature by analyzing the role of resources, competen...

Eco-innovations, or innovations that reduce the environmental impacts of production and consumption activities, are considered crucial for sustainability transitions and a key element of a Circular Economy. Although previous contributions have acknowledged the existence of different types of eco-innovations (e.g., product vs. service or incremental...

Most of what we have seen to date related to eco-innovation of business models (Schaltegger, Lüdeke-Freund and Hansen, 2012; Boons and Lüdeke-Freund, 2013; Bocken et al., 2014; Morioka, Evans and de Carvalho, 2016) shows the importance of stakeholders. But we are living a renovated search for quick-and-stable-economic results. And this “search” may...

ABSTRACT: Eco-innovations, or innovations which reduce the environmental impact of production and consumption activities, are generally considered key in the transition towards more sustainable economies and societies and help mitigate the traditional dichotomy between competitiveness and sustainability. There are different types of eco-innovation,...

La relación positiva entre sostenibilidad y competitividad ha ganado un creciente reconocimiento entre los expertos, aunque el debate todavía continúa. En los últimos años el término “eco-innovación” es cada vez más utilizado en la gestión y la política medioambiental, aunque en diversos contextos y con diferentes connotaciones, lo que podría reduc...

The existing literature on the determinants to the development and adoption of eco-innovations has generally focused on analysing the influence of business strategies and external drivers (public policy and stakeholder impacts) on innovation processes in firms. Internal factors to the firm such as resources, capabilities and competences (RCCs), whi...

The existing literature on the determinants for the development and adoption of ecoinnovations has generally focused on analysing the influence of business strategies and external drivers (public policy and stakeholder impacts) on innovation processes in firms. Internal factors to the firm such as resources, capabilities and competences (RCCs), whi...

Expanding the results of Carrillo-Hermosilla and Unruh (2006, Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. XL No. 3), the study described here aims to identify and evaluate the relationships existing between the main characteristics of industries and the attributes of the technology standardization processes in them. To achieve this goal, six different sensiti...

El objetivo del presente artículo es la elaboración de un marco conceptual comprensivo acerca de los factores promotores e inhibidores de la eco-innovación en las empresas. Basándonos en la Resource-based View y en la perspectiva de capacidades dinámicas, este artículo pretende consolidar y agregar las contribuciones previas mediante una revisión s...

Transformation towards sustainable energy system requires substantial changes in current energy production and consumption patterns. This paper addresses system transition as a valuable approach in contributing to these changes. The main purpose of the paper is to develop and apply a framework for analysing and supporting energy system research and...

La tesis central de este informe es que el retail puede utilizar su posición estratégica para influir de modo real y efectivo en los suministradores y en los consumidores, mejorando la sostenibilidad de todas las fases de la cadena de valor del producto: diseño y manufactura, embalaje, transporte y consumo.Tal cadena de valor será tanto más sosteni...

The existing literature on the uptake of eco-innovations has generally focused on analyzing the influence of business strategies and external drivers (public policy and stakeholder impacts) in innovation processes in firms. Internal factors to the firm, (i.e. in-house resources, firm characteristics and capabilities), which have been shown to be im...

This article elaborates an integrated policy framework, including policy features and specific measures that can be implemented to mitigate the barriers to eco-innovations. We claim that factors inhibiting the development and uptake of eco-innovations are multifaceted and stem from different sources. This systems view, which highlights the multilay...

This paper addresses system transition as a valuable perspective and develops and applies a framework for analysing energy system research and governance. This paper is based on an extensive literature review, expert consultations and empirically based-theory building. The developed framework is applied in the analysis of a selected case study of t...

The importance of eco-innovation in the current academic and political debate on sustainability is unquestionable. The term refers to improvements in the management of the environmental effects of production and consumption activities. This places it squarely at the heart of any sustainable development policy and strategy for transition to sustaina...

En un contexto en el que numerosas voces autorizadas apelan a la urgencia de cambios cualitativos en el actual modelo de crecimiento y desarrollo, a la necesidad de basarse en actividades de alto valor añadido y con un importante componente tecnológico, la búsqueda del desarrollo sostenible promete generar un vector de dinamismo económico, social y...

The previous chapter analyzed the different drivers of and barriers to eco-innovation. In this chapter the aim is to identify those policy features and measures that can be implemented in order to help remove those barriers (or encourage the drivers) and enhance the uptake of eco-innovations. In order to do so, we have taken into account the theore...

Although many potentially significant eco-innovations exist, many of them leading to competitive gains and social and environmental benefits, they are underused, that is, they do not diffuse easily and quickly in the economy. Many factors (barriers and/or absence of drivers) contribute to this.

The earlier chapters provided background and some practical guidance on how the eco-innovation can be dealt with. However, there are many kinds of eco-innovations and in practice various factors influencing on the innovation process are likely to intertwine in many ways. This led us to an important conclusion. Really understanding eco-innovation an...

The scale of environmental problems, coupled with social inequalities and competitiveness challenges within the global economy, have raised increasing awareness of the need to change and renew existing technological production and social behavioural patterns. At best, such awareness may produce innovative responses that gradually move society along...

A starting point of this book could be the dilemma of ‘how to improve the quality of the environment without limiting economic activity’ and its respective answer of focusing on eco-innovation. We have addressed the issue of eco-innovation from numerous angles, providing the reader with a general picture of what eco-innovation is and what factors l...

Since the publication of Changing the Course, the introductory book on eco-efficiency by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Steven Schmidheiny,1 companies have increasingly sought win-win solutions that combine simultaneous improvement in corporate competitiveness and environmental performance. Theoretical work supports this a...

VTT Working Papers 134 Task 1 of the GoReNEST project presented an analytical comprehensive framework of the system transition approach. In spite of that the system transition approach has some commonalities with innovation and energy systems and policies of Nordic countries, only few studies have applied this approach in Nordic countries. Accordin...

System transitions are complex societal co-evolutionary processes that are typically led by gradual adaptation rather than visionary management or coordination. Still, visionary coordination of policies, regulation, corporate strategies and social learning may overcome some barriers and foster new innovation efforts providing sufficient impetus tow...

This paper empirically shows how the uncertainty associated to the absence of a mitigation regime which follows the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Kyoto Protocol (UN FCCC Kyoto Protocol) is affecting investments in abatement activities in the EU electricity sector and, thus, future emissions levels. Based on a survey of EU el...

In this paper, we shall develop a conceptual framew ork to characterise different kinds of eco-innovations and arrive at the respective implic ations for their management and governance. The different dimensions of eco-innovat ion are conceptualised and gathered together in the Dashboard of Eco-innovatio n which is used to assess the innovation pro...

This article elaborates an integrated policy framework, including policy features and specific measures that can be implemented to mitigate the barriers to eco-innovations. We claim that factors inhibiting the development and uptake of eco-innovations are multifaceted and stem from different sources. This systems view, which highlights the multilay...

System transitions are complex societal co-evolutionary processes that are typically led by gradual adaptation rather than visionary management or coordination. Still, visionary coordination of policies, regulation, corporate strategies and social learning may overcome some barriers and foster new innovation efforts providing sufficient impetus tow...

This paper applies and elaborates environmental and evolutionary theorising in the context of international research, development and demonstration (RD&D) cooperation. The theoretical framework of analysis lays particular emphasis on identifying and overcoming institutional barriers to international cooperation for the RD&D that contributes to radi...

System transitions are complex societal co-evolutionary processes that are typically led by gradual adaptation rather than visionary management or coordination. Still, visionary coordination of policies, regulation, corporate strategies and social learning may overcome some barriers and foster new innovation efforts providing sufficient impetus tow...

There is substantial interest in promoting the emergence of a hydrogen-based energy economy. If successful, this would represent a policy-led, discontinuous transition away from existing fossil fuel-based systems. Such a move has few precedents and few policy tools exist to manage such a complex and uncertain endeavour. Furthermore, existing hydroc...

The paper applies and elaborates environmental and evolutionary theorising in the context of international research, development and demonstration (RD&D) cooperation. The theoretical framework of analysis lays particular emphasis on identifying and overcoming institutional barriers to international cooperation for the RD&D that contributes to radic...

This paper analyzes the determinaning factors underlying the three key decisions envolved in setting up a new business: the choice of location, the timing and the sector of activity. The results of a specific survey of 507 Spanish entrepreneurs indicate that the vast majority did not follow rules of optimization to create their companies, but simpl...

Conventional models of technology diffusion have typically focused on the question of the rate of diffusion at which one new technology is fully adopted. The model described here provides a broader approach, from the perspective of the extension of the diffusion of multiple technologies, and the related phenomenon of standardization. Moreover, most...

This paper applies and elaborates environmental and evolutionary theorising in the context of international research, development and demonstration (RD&D) cooperation. The theoretical framework of analysis lays particular emphasis on identifying and overcoming institutional barriers to international cooperation for the RD&D that contributes to radi...

The broadening spectrum of environmental problems, the uncertainty regarding their scale and duration, and their possible irreversibility, in the context of the growing social preference for environmental quality, make it necessary to undertake an ex ante approach to the link between productive activity and environmental quality. This link lies in...

This paper extends the arguments surrounding carbon lock-in elaborated in Unruh (Energy Policy 28 (2000) 817; 30 (2002) 317) to countries currently undergoing industrialization. It argues that, for numerous reasons, industrializing countries are unlikely to leapfrog carbon intensive energy development. On the contrary, carbon lock-in may be globali...

AbstractThe paper looks for evolutionary policy responses to techno-institutional lock-in, a persistent state that creates systemic market and policy barriers to technological alternatives. We address the coordination role for authorities rather than corrective optimisation and elaborate three evolutionary policy objectives, including fostering of...

This paper shows how the uncertainty associated to the absence of a post-Kyoto regime regarding Greenhouse Gas mitigation is affecting investments in mitigation activities in the EU electricity sector and, thus, future emissions levels. Based on a wide survey of EU power companies, the paper identifies the most likely post-Kyoto scenarios considere...

This paper aims to show how the process of diffusion of 'clean technologies' confronts a variety of forces at the macro level that create systematic, technological and institutional barriers to their adoption. There is abundant literature on the role of technology transfer in the development of emerging economies, but this perspective is clearly ne...

The paper looks for co-evolutionary policy responses to carbon lock-in – a persistent state that creates systemic market and policy barriers to carbon low technological alternatives. We address the coordination role for authorities rather than the corrective optimisation and analyse experiences from environmental voluntary agreements and foresight...

The study described here aims to make a threefold contribution to the analysis of technology diffusion. First of all, it tries to offer a new approach to the study of the dynamic of innovation diffusion, not from the traditional perspective of the rate at which one new technology is fully adopted, but the extent of the diffusion of several technolo...

Can the individual actions of agents spontaneously move the system out of a state where it is locked into an environmentally inferior technology, or is coordination from outside the system necessary in the form of public intervention? More importantly, even if the system were able to make the transition unaided, could market coordination mechanisms...

The paper looks for co-evolutionary policy responses to carbon lock-in - a persistent state that creates systemic market and policy barriers to carbon low technological alternatives. We address the coordination role for authorities rather than the corrective optimisation and analyse experiences from environmental voluntary agreements and foresight...

(WP 02/04 Clave pdf) The results of our model show that it would be advisable to undertake policies expressly aimed at the process of sustainable technological change in a way that is complementary to the conventional equilibrium oriented environmental policies. In short, the main objectives of this paper are to understand more fully the dynamics o...

The transfer of technology from advanced countries to emerging economies constitutes one of the fundamental ways to pu rsue progress towards convergence between the two economies in terms of standards of living. Nevertheless, the level of R&D expenditure that developed countries can afford gives them a clear advantage in the technological field. It...

(WP 01/03 Clave pdf) This paper aims to show how the process of diffusion of "clean technologies" confronts a variety of forces at the macro level that create systematic, technological and institutional barriers to their adoption. There is abundant literature on the role of technology transfer in the development of emerging economies, but this pers...

(WP 20/03 Clave pdf) The study described here aims to make a threefold contribution to the analysis of technology diffusion. It tries to offer a new approach to the study of the dynamic of innovation diffusion, not from the traditional perspective of the rate at which one new technology is fully adopted, but the extent of the diffusion of several t...

Se espera que en los próximos años los Acuerdos Voluntarios Ambientales (AVAs) alcancen una creciente importancia entre los instrumentos de mercado utilizados en la búsqueda del desarrollo sostenible. Sin embargo, si se quiere obtener mayor partido de los AVAs en la órbita Iberoamericana y del Sur de Europa, es necesario mejorar su credibilidad, su...

The paper looks for co-evolutionary policy responses to techno-institutional lock-in, addressing the coordination role for authorities rather than the corrective optimisation. We analyse experiences from environmental voluntary agreements and foresight activities in relation to the co-evolutionary policy objectives that can facilitate an escape fro...