Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine firms’ knowledge-sourcing behavior in green technology development with respect to the home country’s market- vs nonmarket environmental policy stringency.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper empirically analyzes the effects of market and nonmarket environmental policy stringency on firms’ knowledge sourcing activity with patent data from OECD countries during 1991–2010, across five categories of green technologies.

Findings

When a nation establishes more stringent market environmental policies, firms likely source more international knowledge rather than domestic knowledge about green technology, up to a point. After that level, this balance shifts (inverted U-shaped curve) due to the risks associated with greater investment costs and commerciality. Nonmarket environmental policies instead should exhibit a positive, linear relationship with international relative to domestic knowledge sourcing. This study also reveals the dynamic roles of a firm’s green technological capability with market-based environmental policy stringency and a substitutive role of the capability with nonmarket-based environmental policy stringency.

Research limitations/implications

This study shows the effect of market and nonmarket environmental policy stringency on firms’ knowledge sourcing. The findings provide meaningful implications for policymakers regarding the optimal levels of market and nonmarket environmental policy stringency that will enhance their countries’ green technology development.

Originality/value

This paper enriches the literature of environmental policy and knowledge sourcing and offers the direction of future research of how environmental policy stringency influences a firm’s knowledge sourcing for green technology development.

中文翻译：

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市场与非市场环境政策严格性对绿色技术知识采购行为的影响：来自经合组织国家的证据

目的

本文的目的是考察企业在绿色技术开发中的知识采购行为，与母国市场与非市场环境政策的严格性有关。

设计/方法/方法

本文利用 1991-2010 年间经合组织国家的专利数据，对五类绿色技术的市场和非市场环境政策严格性对企业知识采购活动的影响进行了实证分析。

发现

当一个国家制定更严格的市场环境政策时，企业可能会在一定程度上获得更多的国际知识，而不是国内的绿色技术知识。在该水平之后，由于与更大的投资成本和商业性相关的风险，这种平衡发生了变化（倒 U 形曲线）。相反，非市场环境政策应该与国际相对于国内知识采购呈现出积极的线性关系。本研究还揭示了企业绿色技术能力对基于市场的环境政策严格性的动态作用以及能力对非市场性环境政策严格性的替代作用。

研究限制/影响

本研究显示了市场和非市场环境政策严格性对企业知识采购的影响。这些发现为政策制定者提供了有关市场和非市场环境政策严格性的最佳水平的有意义的影响，这将促进其国家的绿色技术发展。

原创性/价值

本文丰富了环境政策和知识采购的文献，并为未来研究环境政策严格性如何影响企业绿色技术开发的知识采购提供了方向。