Regulation, business, and sustainable development - The antecedents of environmentally conscious technological innovation

A growing number of firms have begun work toward the development of innovat ive systems that consume fewer resources. reduce waste, enhance productivit y while creating new market opportunities. However all of this environmenta lly friendly innovation occurs under varying types/levels of regulation and the role of such regulation is still debatable. To date, little research e xists that investigates the relative importance of market-driven versus reg ulatory actions in influencing environmental technological innovation. This article presents a model of the antecedents of environmentally conscious t echnological innovation under high and low amounts of regulation. The autho rs present four abbreviated case studies undertaken as part of a larger U.S . Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-funded study that describe environm entally conscious product and process innovations in high and low regulatio n environments. The authors use the case studies to examine the extent to w hich the data support our model. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of our findings.