Conceptualizing an interpretative framework for energy transition among Italian innovative small and medium enterprises

IF 9.3 2区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Energy Policy Pub Date : 2024-10-19 DOI:10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114392

Antonio Thomas , Giuseppe Scandurra , Alfonso Carfora

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Abstract

Energy transition (ET) is becoming essential for most countries worldwide. Companies can only adapt their behaviours to the objectives set by countries’ institutions. A new research stream has thus emerged, which investigates the factors facilitating ET among companies. To date, less attention has been paid to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). One of the greatest difficulties in examining SMEs is their extreme heterogeneity, making results difficult to interpret.

This study analyses the factors supporting ET among a specific population of companies in a defined territorial context: the so-called innovative SMEs belonging to a special Italian database. The high propensity towards eco-environmental innovations characterizing these SMEs and their inclination towards sustainable development suggests that their experience represents a prospective path that policymakers could adopt for other types of SMEs.

Through a partial least squares analysis of data collected from these SMEs, outcomes show that the only factor supporting the ET is the sensitivity of these economic organizations towards energy issues developed over time; that is, the corporate culture with regard to sustainability.

This result is only seemingly surprising under the specific features of these SMEs. Conversely, it presupposes new implications regarding policy measures, questioning the traditional approach based on providing incentives and/or regulations.

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意大利创新型中小企业能源转型解释框架的概念化

能源转型（ET）对世界上大多数国家来说都变得至关重要。企业只能根据国家机构设定的目标调整自己的行为。因此，出现了一个新的研究方向，即研究促进企业能源转型的因素。迄今为止，对中小型企业（SMEs）的关注较少。研究中小型企业的最大困难之一是其极端的异质性，这使得研究结果难以解释。本研究分析了在特定地域背景下特定企业群体中支持生态技术的因素：属于意大利特殊数据库的所谓创新型中小型企业。通过对从这些中小型企业收集的数据进行偏最小二乘法分析，结果表明，支持生态环境创新的唯一因素是这些经济组织随着时间的推移对能源问题的敏感性，即有关可持续发展的企业文化。相反，它对政策措施产生了新的影响，对基于提供激励和/或法规的传统方法提出了质疑。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Energy Policy 管理科学-环境科学

CiteScore

17.30

自引率

5.60%

发文量

540

审稿时长

7.9 months

期刊介绍： Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy conversion, distribution and use as well as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to contribute to climate change mitigation. The attributes of energy policy may include legislation, international treaties, incentives to investment, guidelines for energy conservation, taxation and other public policy techniques. Energy policy is closely related to climate change policy because totalled worldwide the energy sector emits more greenhouse gas than other sectors.