Green innovation and environmental regulations: a systematic review of international academic works

The relationship between green innovation and environmental regulations has received increasing attention from researchers, gaining prominence both in academia and in organizations. Thus, this study aims to present a summary of the most relevant academic researches that relate the environmental regulations and green innovation, knowing in a standardized way the scientific information of this field of study. Through a systematic literature review, 96 academic papers published in the journals of Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, between 2011 and 2019, were analyzed. The results showed that environmental regulations are among the main factors that induce companies to green innovation, given that most of the articles analyzed have a positive relationship. However, as there are still contradictions in the literature, new studies are emerging addressing this relationship with other organizational aspects, and considering the different mechanisms of environmental regulations to try to explain how and under what conditions these policies affect green innovation in companies. These findings can contribute to the researchers for the formation of a solid conceptual base on the subject, guiding for future research.

Automated summary

The study found that environmental regulations are one of the key factors driving companies towards green innovation, with most research results showing a positive relationship between the two. However, with contradictions still existing in the literature, new studies are emerging to explore how environmental regulations affect green innovation in companies.