Analysing the impact of eco-innovation on firm performance in the context of resource-based theory: An application in Antalya industry firms

In recent years, eco-innovation is considered as one of the most important paradigm shifts in innovation behavior. The specificity of eco- innovation lies in the fact that in addition to technological progress, ecological improvement is the main reason for its development. Despite, by combining these two goals, eco-innovation has become one of the primary tools in the world quest to solve ecological problems and sustainability challenges, there is much more to discover in the eco-innovation literature. The drivers of and barriers to eco-innovation discussion is one of the most significant amongst all. More notably, the role of the internal dynamics and organizational characteristics of a firm's in the eco-innovation process has been little studied and discussed. In order to provide a solid background to the discussion, Chapter 1 proposes a a literature survey that collects and presents the most important theoretical and empirical contributions in the field of eco-innovation by addressing the concept ofsustainability, which is a necessary extension of neoliberalism, within the framework of the development line and dynamics of capitalism from past to present. In view of those studies, we show that the concept and definition of eco-innovation are still evolving and that policy and regulation appear as specific drivers of eco-innovation, especially for eco-process innovation, eco-organizational innovation and eco-product innovation. Nevertheless, some issues remain controversial, such as the impact of some of the less stringent ecological regulations and the diffusion process. In Chapter 2, the relationship between resource-based theory and sustainable competitiveness of firms is presented. First, it is discussed through eco-innovation performance models whether the internal characteristics of the firm have an effect on the adoption of eco-innovation practices. Secondly, it isadvocated that improving eco-innovation performance with resource-based eco-innovation performance model is not only the most important component of achieving eco-competitive advantage for businesses, but also a critical success factor in minimizing natural degradation of resources, achieving environmentally friendly opportunities and business ecosystem competition. In Chapter 3, a study was conducted by interviewing a total of 200 firm managers in production firms operating in Antalya to measure the impact of eco-process, eco-organizational and eco-product innovation capabilities on firm performance. In this study, it is aimed to determine the effect of ecoinnovation on firm performance in the context of resource-based theory and to organize a roadmap for production firms and thus to shed light on future studies. The results of our empirical analysis indicate the marginal effects of eco-innovation on firm performance. More importantly, the participation of an firm in eco-innovation is seen as important both in achieving sustainable competitiveness and in the development of the country's economy.