Green Technologies and Environmental Productivity: A Cross-sectoral Analysis of Direct and Indirect Effects in Italian Regions

This paper provides empirical investigation of the effects of environmental innovations (EIs) on environmental performances, as proxied by the environmental productivity (EP) measure. We focus on sectoral environmental productivity of Italian Regions by exploiting the Regional Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts (Regional NAMEA). Patent applications have been extracted by the Patstat Database and assigned to the environmental domain by adopting different international classifications of green technologies: the latest release of the OECD ENV-TECH indicators, and the union of this with the previously established WIPO Green Inventory. Econometric results outline that regions-sectors characterized by higher levels of green technologies (GTs) are those facing better environmental performance. These positive effects directly stem from the introduction of GT in the same sector, as well as from the introduction of GT in vertically related sectors.