Eco-innovation at the firm-level in Norway: Drivers and implications

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to deploy two key concepts within the theory on the resourcebased view of the firm—the resources and dynamic capabilities aspects—to study not only the antecedents of eco-innovation at the firm level, but also the conceptualisation of eco-innovation as a dynamic capability. As popular as this theory has been in innovation studies, its extension to eco-innovation research remains incomplete regarding how particular resources, such as knowledge, are acquired and combined and how dynamic capability is defined. This thesis investigates to what extent different forms of knowledge play a role in driving eco-innovation, especially when it comes to the geography of collaboration and knowledge complementarity. Additionally, it also studies whether engaging in eco-innovation is a dynamic capability that can provide resilience and responsiveness to a firm during an external shock. This study is carried out to better enable policymakers, academics and, perhaps more importantly, firm managers to understand the challenges and advantages of engaging in eco-innovation. Adopting a quantitative approach and utilising three different datasets generated from surveys carried out in Norway, the results show a complex relationship between eco-innovation and regional and international synthetic and analytical knowledge collaboration. In addition, when it comes to ecoinnovation, although synthetic and analytical knowledge are both relevant, these two forms of knowledge substitute for each other rather than being complementary. Furthermore, conceptualising eco-innovation as a dynamic capability, the results show that not only were eco-innovation firms more positively affected by COVID-19, but they also responded more innovatively in other aspects of their operations as a direct response to the pandemic. This study informs the theoretical understanding of eco-innovation and how it relates to dynamic capabilities, especially during times of external shock. Additionally, it also informs the empirical understanding of the relevance for eco-innovation of analytical and synthetic knowledge, its geography of acquisition and its complementarity.