An analysis of internal and external factors promoting corporate innovations in renewable energy

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26740055
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Environmental policy and social systems
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Inoue Emiko 京都大学, 白眉センター, 特定准教授 (20710528)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 再生可能エネルギー / 再エネイノベーション / インセンティブ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Renewable energy (RE) related innovations are essential to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement. To examine the factors which may promote RE innovations, I firstly conducted interviews with specialists from organizations such as OECD, IEA, European Commission and firms. Based on those interviews, I analyzed the impact of environmental policies and corporate voluntary actions on RE innovations. Next, using a questionnaire constructed based on the interviews, I conducted an original survey of Japanese firms in the RE sector to examine what kinds of internal and external factors may induce RE innovations in the case of Japan. The results show that environmental policies, the external factors, are likely to promote innovations. In particular, it is interesting to note that a policy which has not yet introduced may have an impact on RE innovations. In addition, regarding the internal factor, firms that are actively engaged in CSR are more likely to encourage RE innovations.

Free Research Field

環境経済学、環境政策