PurposeEnergy and environment has gained traction within the field of entrepreneurship literature, but a comprehensive empirical study that examines the relationship between the cost of energy and small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) innovation is an omission. Therefore, this novel study aims to examine the relationship between the cost of energy and SMEs innovation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by first examining the differential impact of the various generation sources on the price of electric energy. This research has enabled us to investigate and understand the transmission mechanism of increasing/decreasing electricity price on innovation decisions and activities of SMEs in SSA.Design/methodology/approachUsing quantitative approach, with the data from the World Bank Enterprise and Innovation Follow-up Surveys, the study utilises a Tobit model to test whether the generation mix (renewable and non-renewable generation sources) increases or decreases electricity prices and examine the impact of the cost of electric energy on SMEs innovation in SSA.FindingsThe findings of this study shows that the cost of electricity affects negatively on SMEs innovation decision and activities of SMEs in SSA. The impact of renewables on the price of electricity has a larger magnitude relative to that of non-renewables. This finding has implications for policy makers promoting renewable energy without a policy design to tackle the unintended price effect of promoting renewable energy.Originality/valueThis is the first study to introduce cost of energy into an innovation model and to empirically examine the role of cost of energy for innovation activities of SMEs in SSA. Further, it examines the sources of generation on electricity price in SSA. The study contributes towards the empirical literature, and the findings also have implication for policy makers regarding the unintended consequences of promoting the transition to low-carbon electricity generation sources on SMEs via the cost of doing business implication.

中文翻译：

---

能源成本对创新重要吗？能源价格对撒哈拉以南非洲中小企业创新的影响

目的能源与环境在创业文献领域中获得了关注，但一项全面的实证研究检查了能源成本与中小企业 (SME) 创新之间的关系是一个遗漏。因此，这项新颖的研究旨在通过首先研究各种发电资源对电能价格的不同影响，来检验撒哈拉以南非洲 (SSA) 能源成本与中小企业创新之间的关系。这项研究使我们能够调查和了解电价上涨/下跌对 SSA 中小企业创新决策和活动的传导机制。设计/方法/方法使用定量方法，数据来自世界银行企业和创新跟踪调查, 该研究利用 Tobit 模型测试发电组合（可再生和不可再生发电资源）是否会增加或降低电价，并检查电能成本对 SSA 中小企业创新的影响。电力成本对 SSA 中小企业创新决策和中小企业活动产生负面影响。与不可再生能源相比，可再生能源对电价的影响更大。这一发现对促进可再生能源的政策制定者具有影响，而没有制定政策设计来解决促进可再生能源的意外价格效应。原创性/价值这是第一项将能源成本引入创新模型并实证检验成本的作用的研究。 SSA 中小企业创新活动的能源。此外，它检查了 SSA 中电价的发电来源。该研究有助于实证文献，研究结果也对政策制定者产生影响，即通过开展业务的成本促进中小企业向低碳发电来源过渡的意外后果。