2.4 Conclusion
To close this section, a brief recall of different points
exposed seems relevant. In fact the first subsection made the difference
between product eco-innovation and process ecoinnovation with a clear
definition of both of them. Secondly, the different drivers of ecoinnovation
were detailed including the so-called push/pull effect of the both sides of the
market for environmental innovation. Finally, the part concerning the PH
touched to its the
different configuration, namely the weak PH with a clear
impact of environmental regulation on eco-innovation (which is somehow a must
happen effect since one would certainly expect firms to adapt if they have to
comply with compulsory standards), the narrow PH with a distinction of the
effects on innovation depending on the design of the environmental regulation,
and finally the strong PH, subject of the current thesis, where no robust
conclusions could be drawn since the results were varying so much from one
study to another. This may also be due to the difficulty to measure empirically
the strictness of the regulation and compare the gains with the compliance
costs to check the total or partial offset. At last, one of the major critics
to the PH remains the fact that the initial hypothesis relies on case studies
rather than empirical evidence which does not allow generalising.
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