Abstract
The role that environmental policy uncertainty can play on innovation in environmental technologies has not been extensively assessed empirically. In this chapter, we seek to assess the impact of environmental policy uncertainty on innovation, using patent data as a proxy for innovation and volatility in public expenditures on ‘environmental’ R&D as a measure of policy uncertainty. Drawing upon a panel data set of 23 OECD countries over the period 1986–2007, support is found for the negative effect of public R&D volatility on innovation. In the base model, a 10% increase in policy uncertainty is seen to cause a 1.2–2.8% decrease in environmental patent activity, whereas a 10% increase in government support for R&D will increase innovation by 2.6–3.9%.
The views expressed here are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD or its members.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Note that the resale value may be zero if the capital is specific, and the regulatory change impacts on all potential adopters.
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- 4.
‘Fractional’ counts are generated in cases when inventors from multiple countries are listed.
- 5.
‘Priority date’ indicates the earliest application date worldwide (within a given patent family).
- 6.
In the sample used for econometric analysis, storage patents represent on average only 0.2% of total patents. Nevertheless, in order to avoid any concern over possible endogeneity, regressions are estimated considering the difference between the patent total and the dependent variable.
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This covers research into the control of pollution, aimed at the identification and analysis of the sources of pollution and their causes and all pollutants, including their dispersal in the environment and the effects on man, species (fauna, flora, microorganisms) and the biosphere. Development of monitoring facilities for the measurement of all kinds of pollution is included. The same is valid for the elimination of all forms of pollution in all types of environment.
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Appendix
Appendix
IPC classes for environmental technologies
A.1. Air pollution abatement | |
Filters or filtering processes specially modified for separating dispersed particles from gases or vapours | B01D46 |
Separating dispersed particles from gases, air or vapours by liquid as separating agent | B01D47 |
Separating dispersed particles from gases, air or vapours by other methods | B01D49 |
Combinations of devices for separating particles from gases or vapours | B01D50 |
Auxiliary pretreatment of gases or vapours to be cleaned from dispersed particles | B01D51 |
Chemical or biological purification of waste gases | B01D53/34-72 |
Separating dispersed particles from gases or vapour, e.g. air, by electrostatic effect | B03C3 |
Use of additives to fuels or fires for particular purposes for reducing smoke development | C10L10/02 |
Use of additives to fuels or fires for particular purposes for facilitating soot removal | C10L10/06 |
Blast furnaces; dust arresters | C21B7/22 |
Manufacture of carbon steel, e.g. plain mild steel, medium carbon steel or cast steel; removal of waste gases or dust | C21C5/38 |
Exhaust or silencing apparatus having means for purifying or rendering innocuous | F01N3 |
Exhaust or silencing apparatus combined or associated with devices profiting by exhaust energy | F01N5 |
Exhaust or silencing apparatus, or parts thereof | F01N7 |
Electrical control of exhaust gas treating apparatus | F01N9 |
Combustion apparatus characterised by means for returning flue gases to the combustion chamber or to the combustion zone | F23B80 |
Combustion apparatus characterised by arrangements for returning combustion products or flue gases to the combustion chamber | F23C9 |
Incinerators or other apparatus specially adapted for consuming waste gases or noxious gases | F23G7/06 |
Arrangements of devices for treating smoke or fumes of purifiers, e.g. for removing noxious material | F23J15 |
Shaft or like vertical or substantially vertical furnaces; arrangements of dust collectors | F27B1/18 |
A.2. Water pollution abatement | |
Arrangements of installations for treating wastewater or sewage | B63J4 |
Treatment of water, wastewater, sewage or sludge | C02F |
Fertilisers from wastewater, sewage sludge, sea slime, ooze or similar masses | C05F7 |
Chemistry; materials for treating liquid pollutants, e.g. oil, gasoline, fat | C09K3/32 |
Devices for cleaning or keeping clear the surface of open water from oil or like floating materials by separating or removing these materials; barriers therefore | E02B15/04-06 |
Cleaning or keeping clear the surface of open water; devices for removing the material from the surface | E02B15/10 |
Methods or installations for obtaining or collecting drinking water or tap water; rain, surface or groundwater | E03B3 |
Plumbing installations for wastewater | E03C1/12 |
Sewers – cesspools | E03F |
A.3. Waste management | |
A.3.1. Solid waste collection | |
Street cleaning; removing undesirable matter, e.g. rubbish, from the land, not otherwise provided for | E01H15 |
Transporting; gathering or removal of domestic or like refuse | B65F |
A.3.2. Material recovery, recycling and reuse | |
Animal feeding – stuffs from distillers’ or brewers’ waste; waste products of dairy plant; meat, fish or bones; kitchen waste | A23K1/06-10 |
Footwear made of rubber waste | A43B1/12 |
Heels or top pieces made of rubber waste | A43B21/14 |
Separating solid materials; general arrangement of separating plant specially adapted for refuse | B03B9/06 |
Manufacture of articles from scrap or waste metal particles | B22F8 |
Preparing material; recycling the material | B29B7/66 |
Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics | B29B17 |
Presses specially adapted for consolidating scrap metal or for compacting used cars | B30B9/32 |
Systematic disassembly of vehicles for recovery of salvageable components, e.g. for recycling | B62D67 |
Stripping waste material from cores or formers, e.g. to permit their reuse | B65H73 |
Applications of disintegrable, dissolvable or edible materials | B65D65/46 |
Compacting the glass batches, e.g. pelletising | C03B1/02 |
Glass batch composition – containing silicates, e.g. cullet | C03C6/02 |
Glass batch composition – containing pellets or agglomerates | C03C6/08 |
Hydraulic cements from oil shales, residues or waste other than slag | C04B7/24-30 |
Calcium sulphate cements starting from phosphogypsum or from waste, e.g. purification products of smoke | C04B11/26 |
Use of agglomerated or waste materials or refuse as fillers for mortars, concrete or artificial stone; waste materials or refuse | C04B18/04-10 |
Claywares; waste materials or refuse | C04B33/132 |
Recovery or working up of waste materials (plastics) | C08J11 |
Luminescent, e.g. electroluminescent, chemiluminescent, materials; recovery of luminescent materials | C09K11/01 |
Working up used lubricants to recover useful products | C10M175 |
Working up raw materials other than ores, e.g. scrap, to produce nonferrous metals or compounds thereof | C22B7 |
Obtaining zinc or zinc oxide; from muffle furnace residues; from metallic residues or scraps | C22B19/28-30 |
Obtaining tin from scrap, especially tin scrap | C22B25/06 |
Textiles; disintegrating fibre-containing articles to obtain fibres for reuse | D01G11 |
Papermaking; fibrous raw materials or their mechanical treatment using waste paper | D21B1/08-10 |
Papermaking; fibrous raw materials or their mechanical treatment; defibrating by other means of waste paper | D21B1/32 |
Papermaking; other processes for obtaining cellulose; working up waste paper | D21C5/02 |
Papermaking; pulping; non-fibrous material added to the pulp; waste products | D21H17/01 |
Apparatus or processes for salvaging material from electric cables | H01B 15/00 |
Recovery of material from discharge tubes or lamps | H01J 9/52 |
Reclaiming serviceable parts of waste cells or batteries | H01M 6/52 |
Reclaiming serviceable parts of waste accumulators | H01M 10/54 |
A.3.3. Fertilisers from waste | |
Fertilisers made from animal corpses or parts thereof | C05F1 |
Fertilisers from distillery wastes, molasses, vinasses, sugar plant, or similar wastes or residues | C05F5 |
Fertilisers from waste water, sewage sludge, sea slime, ooze or similar masses | C05F7 |
Fertilisers from household or town refuse | C05F9 |
Preparation of fertilisers characterised by the composting step | C05F17 |
A.3.4. Incineration and energy recovery | |
Solid fuels essentially based on materials of non-mineral origin; on sewage, house or town refuse; on industrial residues or waste materials | C10L5/46-48 |
Cremation furnaces; incineration of waste; incinerator constructions; details, accessories or control therefore | F23G5 |
Cremation furnaces; incinerators or other apparatus specially adapted for consuming specific waste or low-grade fuels | F23G7 |
A.3.6. Waste management – not elsewhere classified | |
Disposal of solid waste | B09B |
Production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures from rubber or rubber waste | C10G1/10 |
Medical or veterinary science; disinfection or sterilising methods specially adapted for refuse | A61L11 |
A.4. Soil remediation | |
Reclamation of contaminated soil | B09C |
A.5. Environmental monitoring | |
Monitoring or diagnostic devices for exhaust gas treatment apparatus | F01N11 |
Alarms responsive to a single specified undesired or abnormal condition and not otherwise provided for, e.g. pollution alarms; toxics | G08B21/12-14 |
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Kalamova, M., Johnstone, N., Haščič, I. (2012). Implications of Policy Uncertainty for Innovation in Environmental Technologies: The Case of Public R&D Budgets. In: Costantini, V., Mazzanti, M. (eds) The Dynamics of Environmental and Economic Systems. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5089-0_6
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