The project deals with the origin, diffusion and the effects of sustainable innovations. For practical research purposes, sustainable innovations are defined as environmental innovations, i.e. they include new or changed processes, techniques, production systems, services and products that have less of a burden on the environment or require fewer natural resources. The project has three levels: a comprehensive industry examination for Germany, a sector-specific study of several European and some non-European countries and supplementary case studies on the basis of the sectoral research. As a first step, on the basis of a two-fold business survey, a comprehensive industry study for Germany is conducted that is broadly conceived and able to address a variety of questions. On the sectoral level two sub-sectors of mechanical engineering are looked at: the production of components of cold plants (especially compressors) and the building of industrial furnaces and components for furnaces (especially burners). In refrigeration technology, the main question concerns the employed refrigerant and the implications with regard to ozone reduction potential, greenhouse gas effectiveness and energy efficiency. In industrial furnace construction the pollutant-related environmental regulation for particular industrial process plays an important role, in addition to the realization of efficiency measures, in the technological development. The sectoral study is thus directly linked to environmental and innovation-policy objectives as well as developments that concern the respective sectors (whereas at the industry level the influence of policy variables, as a matter of necessity, can only be determined in general terms). In contrast to the comprehensive level, on the sectoral level patent data with the help of the PATSTAT database are exclusively used as innovation indicators. This innovation and environmental information will in turn be linked with the AMADEUS database, into which is fed information on ca. 11 million firms throughout Europe (in particular regarding location, sector affiliation on the four-digit NACE level, size, turnover, ownership structures and various balance sheet information). This provides the foundation for statistical and econometric analyses beyond the case studies that have dominated in the literature up to now. The data enable us to differentiate between several types of companies: companies without innovations/patents, companies with general innovations but no environmental innovations/patents and companies with different kinds of environmental innovations/patents. Alternatively, patents (and not companies) can be used as an analysis unit. Of particular interest for us is to shed light on the different innovation determinants and hindrances and to employ information on this as an (endogenous) factor for the determination of innovation effects. We are also particularly interested in the channels through which the innovation incentives and so-called knowledge spill-overs become effective and how they contribute to the diffusion of innovations. In the area of environmental innovations we assume that the environmental and innovation-policy conditions are of special importance for innovation activity.
A company panel on the basis of a comprehensive industry survey in Germany in two survey actions; patent data and patent analysis on the basis of the PATSTAT database (comprehensive industry and sectoral level); corresponding enterprise data from AMADEUS; accompanying workshops and interviews; conventional econometric decision models; spatial econometric models for the research of spatial and sectoral interdependencies.
Rave, Tilmann (with Frank Goetzke), "Climate-friendly technologies in the mobile air-conditioning sector: A patent citation analysis", Ifo Working Paper Nr. 99, 2011 ( Abstract / Download, PDF, 357 KB )
Rave, Tilmann (with Mario Larch, Frank Goetzke), "The Determinants of Environmental Innovations and Patenting: Germany Reconsidered", Ifo Working Paper Nr. 97, 2011 ( Abstract / Download, PDF, 379 KB )
Rauscher, Michael, "Green R&D versus End-of-Pipe Emission Abatement: A Model of Directed Technical Change", Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2010: Ökonomie der Familie - Session: Endogenous Growth C14-V2 ( Download, PDF, 153 KB )
Rave, Tilmann (with Maximilian Sindram), "Klimaschutz durch verringerte Emissionen von fluorierten Treibhausgasen – das Beispiel innovativer Kälte- und Klimatechnik", in: ifo Schnelldienst 63 (18), 2010, p. 18-27 ( Download, PDF, 430 KB, in German )
Rave, Tillmann, "Umweltinnovationen und Umweltpatente in Deutschland – erste empirische Ergebnisse", in: ifo Schnelldienst 14/2009, p. 16-23 ( Download, PDF, 217 KB, in German )
Rave, Tillmann, "Umweltinnovationen in Deutschland – Ergebnisse der zweiten Befragungswelle", in: ifo Schnelldienst 3/2010, p. 37-43 ( Download, PDF, 153 KB, in German )
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