Environmental innovation and R&D cooperation: Empirical evidence from Spanish manufacturing firms

This paper explores the relationship between firms’ R&D cooperation strategies and their propensity to introduce environmental innovations.Previous literature has supported that environmental innovations differ from other innovations as far as externalities and drivers of their introduction are concerned, highlighting mainly the importance of regulation to trigger them. Using data from the Community Innovation Survey on Spanish manufacturing firms (PITEC), this paper investigates specificities that affect rather how they are developed, and in particular the higher importance of R&D cooperation with external partners.The econometric estimations, controlling for selection bias, suggest that environmental innovative firms cooperate on innovation with external partners to a higher extent than other innovative firms. Furthermore, cooperation with suppliers, KIBS and universities is more relevant than for other innovators, whereas cooperation with clients does not seem to be differentially important. Finally, the results bespoke of a substitution effect between cooperation activities and the internal R&D effort.

► I analyze the peculiarities of green innovations with respect to other innovation. ► I study the differential importance of R&D cooperation to develop eco-innovation. ► Environmental innovative firms cooperate with external partners to a higher degree. ► Suppliers, KIBS and universities are more important as co-innovators. ► Innovation-oriented cooperation activities substitute for the internal R&D effort.