Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
5 Conclusions
Our study provides a broad analysis of the drivers of innovation in EE by looking at
the residential sector. As evidenced by the descriptive analyses on the trends in EE
patterns and public policy interventions, cross-country speci
c features emerge
which appear to be related to different levels of policy stringency adopted in the
OECD countries during the last two decades in this
eld. The econometric analysis,
based on an original dataset comprising sectoral patent data and information on
speci
rms the importance of public policies as drivers of
innovation activities in this poorly explored sector.
More speci
c policy instruments, con
cally, this study highlights that national and sectoral innovation
systems explain a large portion of a country
s propensity to innovate in EE tech-
nologies within the residential sector. At the same time, environmental and energy
systems are shown to shape the rate and direction of technical change in this sector,
with energy availability playing an important role, as an abundance of cheap energy
sources (such as nuclear power) tends to reduce the propensity to innovate.
Regarding the speci
'
c role of general and sectoral public policies, economic
instruments such as energy taxation seem to have an inducement effect on the
likelihood to innovate in energy saving devices. Moreover, public policies specif-
ically designed to induce ef
ciency in energy consumption emerge as crucial for
boosting the innovations in technology necessary to reach higher resource ef
-
ciency standards. In this respect, an analysis of the impact of different policies
provides interesting, new insights. In particular, the econometric results point out
that not only is the policy inducement effect on innovation relevant when standard
instruments such as direct investments, taxes and subsidies are adopted, but its
importance also extends to policies aimed at improving the level of consumer
information and awareness. Among those policies, information and education
policies, which include energy labelling and performance codes for the sectors
considered, emerge as strongly capable of affecting innovation dynamics in resi-
dential EE technologies. Moreover, the closer the relationship is between agents
paying energy bills and agents adopting ef
cient technologies, the higher the
impulse is to innovate in the related technological domains, as clearly emerges from
the analysis of the cases of lighting and electrical appliances.
These results appear to have signi
cant policy implications and suggest a way to
further develop research in this
uences of
innovation, energy and environment systems on innovation-related activities in the
sector under examination con
eld. First, the jointly signi
cant in
rms the importance of adopting a systemic per-
spective to the analysis of eco-innovation. Second, this implies that different policy
dimensions working both on the multiple elements
uencing innovation
dynamics and at system level should be combined in a properly designed policy
mix. Third, an appropriate policy mix should contain not only traditional market-
in
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