Diffusion, motivations and drivers of the Innovations With Environmental Benefits (IWEBs) in the Italian industrial system: a preliminary study on data from the Community Innovation Survey

Analyzing data from the 2020 Community Innovation Survey for Italy, we study the phenomenon of eco-innovation, that is the introduction of Innovations With Environmental Benefits (IWEBs). We aim to give an idea of the attitude of firms towards the changes deriving from climate change, of the magnitude of eco-innovation phenomenon in Italy, of the benefits deriving from eco-innovations, of the reasons that induce firms to introduce them. We analyze whether and to what extent the importance attributed to environmental factors is effectively translated in the introduction of IWEBs, if and how the importance given to different motivations for introducing an IWEB is related to the number of benefits it generates. We also study if and how some characteristics of the firms, like sector, size, human capital have a relationship with the probability to introduce an IWEB, both directly and influencing the motivations related to the eco-innovation.