Eco-Innovation in Worker Cooperatives and Investor-Owned Industrial Firms: a Comparative Analysis
Date
2024-08-09Author
Santos Larrazabal, Josu
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Revista de Economía Mundial (67) : 145-173 (2024)
Abstract
The study examines eco-innovation in cooperatives and investor-owned firms, analysing their primary driving factors. After evaluating responses from 718 industrial establishments in the Basque Country, including 57 cooperatives, we conclude that cooperative principles do not guarantee success in eco-innovation. The voluntariness of eco-innovation is no more relevant in cooperatives than in other firms; instead, regulatory pressures and market forces are the primary drivers. Despite facing greater limitations, cooperatives achieve similar environmental benefits. The results reinforce the importance of public policies for an effective ecological transition, and support the need for a re-evaluation based on empirical evidence of certain postulates in social economy literature.