Towards a green economy through innovations: The role of trade union involvement

• Autores: Davide Antonioli, Massimiliano Mazzanti
• Localización: Ecological Economics, ISSN-e 1873-6106, Vol. 131, Nº. 0, 2017, págs. 286-299
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Abstract In this paper, we address the overlooked issue of whether and how industrial relations might play a role in the process of greening the economy, primarily through the levers of innovation adoption and organisational change. We address our objective econometrically, assessing the quality of industrial relations as a driver of environmental innovation adoption, through the use of micro-data on manufacturing firms. The results yield two interesting main findings: being a unionised firm is not associated with the adoption of environmental innovation; however, when we consider the industrial relations climate, we observe a positive relationship between a cooperative industrial relations climate (union involvement) and the propensity to introduce environmental innovation. Two models are relevant: a managerially oriented model (unions are informed) and a participatory model (unions bargain on innovation adoption). The contents of environmental innovations are also important: union involvement is more relevant for adopting more complex and radical innovations to abate CO2 and EMS and ISO practices.