Determinants and Specificities of Eco-Innovations Compared to Other Innovations—An Econometric Analysis for the French and German Industry Based on the Community Innovation Survey

Many recent papers deal with exploring and explaining the determinants of eco-innovations for different countries supporting the formulation of efficient policy measures to trigger eco-innovation activities of firms. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of econometric cross-country analyses allowing recognizing common cross-country determinants, but also country-specific characteristics of eco-innovations. Based on data from the fourth Community Innovation Survey for France and Germany, the present paper contributes to fill this gap. Using a fully harmonized econometric model for the two countries, we are able to detect remarkable similarities concerning the different determinants of eco-innovations despite differences in the national innovation systems. The results confirm the central role of regulation and cost savings as motivations for eco-innovations compared to other innovations. Furthermore, eco-innovative activities seem to require more external sources of knowledge and information. Due to the respective regulation, in France, universities as cooperation partners seem to be more important compared to Germany.