SMEs and barriers to Eco-innovation in the EU: exploring different firm profiles

Eco-innovation is an explicit aim of major EU policy strategies. Many\r\nenvironmental policies de facto require firms to eco-innovate to comply with policy\r\nrequirements, while the overlap between policy-driven and market-driven eco-innovation\r\nstrategies is increasingly important for many firms. Barriers to eco-innovation can\r\nthen emerge as a critical factor in either preventing or stimulating EU strategies, policy\r\nimplementation, and the green strategies of firms. In this paper we focus on EU-27\r\nSMEs. We single out and explore different firm profiles, considering eco-innovation\r\nbarriers and engagement. Our analysis is based on a particularly suitable dataset: the\r\nEurobarometer survey on “Attitudes of European entrepreneurs towards ecoinnovation”.\r\nWe identify six clusters of SMEs. These clusters include firms\r\nfacing either ‘Revealed barriers’ or ‘Deterring barriers’, ‘Cost deterred’ firms,\r\n‘Market deterred’ firms, ‘Non eco-innovators’, and ‘Green champions’. The\r\nclusters display substantial differences in terms of eco-innovation adoption.\r\nWe show that our taxonomy has little overlap with sector classifications. This\r\ndiversity should be taken into account for successful environmental and innovation\r\npolicies.