This seminar will take place on June 28 at 15:30, online via Zoom (link below)
https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/95291859793?pwd=Z1N2ek1TQUpHR0syUy9uUmRSOWxHQT09
Our seminars are free to attend and open to everyone. Please share with whomever may be interested.
Summary
This paper examines the relationship between net zero and digital innovations in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Are there synergies between these two types of innovation, or do the constrained resources and managerial attention of SMEs imply that there are trade-offs? Drawing on novel data from a dedicated survey conducted in 2020 on around 1,000 UK SMEs, and using models of the adoption process, we explore how categories of digital adopters relate to categories of adopters of net zero innovations. Using Ordered Probit estimation, we find a strong and positive relationship between digital and net zero adoption. Specifically, our results show that the probability of belonging to the least advanced category of net zero adopters - late majority - decreases with digital innovativeness. On the contrary, the probability of belonging to more advanced net zero categories -- the early majority, early adopters, and innovators - increases with more advanced levels of digital innovativeness. Our findings suggest strong synergies between digital and net zero innovation, suggesting that a business support ecosystem designed to facilitate digital transition may also be beneficial for achieving transition to net zero in SMEs.
Speaker's bio
Professor Effie Kesidou has a Chair in Economics of Innovation and Sustainability at Leeds University Business School and is the Head of the Graduate School in the Business Faculty, University of Leeds. She is also a Senior Research Associate at Enterprise Research Centre, Warwick Business School and a CORD Fellow at the Center for Organization Research & Design, Arizona State University. Her research is interdisciplinary and uses applied economic methods to understand how businesses and cities can become more sustainable via innovation. She has published widely in journals such as Research Policy, Journal of Economic Geography, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies, Ecological Economics, International Journal of Production Economics, Economics Letters, Journal of Business Ethics, World Development, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Journal of Environmental Management, Business History, Industrial and Corporate Change, and Business Strategy and the Environment. Professor Kesidou has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), European Commission (H2020), and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).
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