Cleaner production, employment effects and socio-economic development

International Journal of Technology Management

Volumn 17, Issue 5, 1999, Pages 522-543

  Getzner, Michael ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF KLAGENFURT   (Austria)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL EFFECTS; EMPLOYMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT; ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER;

CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES;

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT;

EID: 0032627218     PISSN: 02675730     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.1999.002729     Document Type: Article

References (72)

1. Blazejczak, J., Edler, D. and Gornig, M. (1993): Beschäftigungswirkungen des Umweltschutzes: Stand und Perspektiven, Berlin (Erich Schmidt-Verlag). (Employment Effects of Environmental Protection: State of the Art and Future Perspectives)
2. Köppl, A. and Pichl, C. (1994) Entsorgungswirtschaft in Österreich, Vienna (Austrian Institute for Economic Research). (Sewage and Waste Treatment Industries in Austria)
3. Köppl, A. and Pichl, C. (1995) Wachstumsmarkt Umwelttechnologie, Vienna (Austrian Institute for Economic Research). (Growth in the Environmental Technologies Market)
4. Martinuzzi, A. and Fischerlehner, K. (1994) Öko-Consulting in Österreich, Schriftenreihe der Sektion I des Bundesministeriums für Umwelt, Jugend und Familie 22, Vienna. (Eco-Consulting in Austria)
5. Goodstein, E. (1996) 'Jobs and the environment', Environmental Management, 20 (3), pp.313-321.
6. Doeleman, J. A. (1992) 'Employment concerns and environmental policy', in Bhalla, A. S. (Ed.) Environment, Employment and Development, Geneva (International Labour Office).
7. OECD (1997) Environmental Policies and Employment, Paris (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development).
8. To date, the main argument of the job-creating (or securing) effects of environmental policies lies on 'end-of-pipe' technologies. To my knowledge, no empirical investigation into indirect employment effects of rationalizing 'clean technologies' has been carried out so far.
9. Kanatschnig, D., Neuböck, J. and Potyka, S. (1996) Öko-Audit: Evaluierung der ITF-Pilotförderung, study commissioned by the Oberösterreichische Umweltakademie (Linz), Vienna (Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Verkehr und Kunst). (Eco-Audits: Evaluation of a Publicly Financed Program)
10. van der Bellen, A. (1995) 'Beschäftigung und Umweltpolitik', Kurswechsel 15(2), pp.66-73. (Employment and Environmental Policy)
11. Pichl, C. (1997) Sustainable Development und Beschäftigung, Kurswechsel 17(1), pp.95-102 (Sustainable Development and Employment)
12. Viederman, S. (1994) 'Public policy: challenge to ecological economics', in: Jansson, A., Hammer, M., Folke, C. and Costanza, R. (Eds.), Investing in Natural Capital, Washington, D. C. (Island Press).
13. Employment effects of clean technologies on the macrolevel require other modelling (Schneider/Getzner, 1998 [72]).
14. See for concepts of clean production and 'eco-efficientcy', e.g. Misra [15], Schaltegger [16], Schmidt/Schorb [17] and Börlin [18]. Cleaner production technologies are sometimes names 'active strategies' compared to passive strategies' denoting 'end-of-pipe' technologies [19].
15. Misra, K.B. (Hrsg.) (1996) Clean Production. Environmental and Economic Perspectives, Berlin, Heidelberg (Springer).
16. Schaltegger, S. (1995) Öko-Effizienz durch Öko-Controlling, Zürich (vdf Hochschulverlag). (Eco-Efficiency through Eco-Controlling)
17. Schmidt, M. and Schorb, A. (Hrsg.) (1995) Stoffstromanalysen in Ökobilanzen und Öko-Audits, Berlin, Heidelberg (Springer), (Material Flow Analysis in Eco-Balancing and Eco-Audits).
18. Börlin, M. (1991) Ökonomische Konsequenzen von naturverträglichen Technologien, in: Donkelaar, P. v. (Hrsg.): Naturverträgliche Technologien für Produkte, die mit der Natur in Einklang stehen, Ehningen bei Böblingen (expert-verlag). (Economic Consequences of Environmentally Sound Technologies)
19. Steven, M. (1994b) Produktion und Umweltschutz, Wiesbaden (Gabler). (Production and Environmental Protection)
20. Cf. for the following WBCSD [21], too.
21. WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) (1996) Eco-Efficiency and Cleaner Production: Charting the Course to Sustainability, Document prepared for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) annual meeting, New York.
22. In the framework of environmental management concepts, new management systems are regarded as integrated environmental technologies, since the pure technological approach often reduces to high investments without any further environmental or quality improvement (see e.g. Hildebrandt [23] who shows that Sustainable business strategies and, more specifically, clean technologies run onto ground without workers motivation and participation). EMAS norms especially account not only for technological but also organizational measures.
23. Hildebrandt, E. (1996) Visionen statt Illusionen - besser leben in einer nachhaltigen und zukunftsfähigen Gesellschaft, Working paper, Berlin (Social Science Research Center). (Visions instead of Illusions: Living a Better Live in a Sustainable Society)
24. Similar analysis can be applied to single firms (cf. Siebert, [25], chapter 'Production Theory and Transformation Space').
25. Siebert, H. (1995) Economics of the Environment 4th ed., Berlin, New York (Springer).
26. One might ask, why clean technologies are not commonly introduced in this win-win case. As extensively shown in the literature externalities might be one reason for ignoring environmental aspects in private decision making.
27. Corbett, C. and Wassenhove, L.V. (1995) 'Environmental issues and operations strategy', in: Folmer, H., Gabel, H.L. and Opschoor, H. (Eds.) Principles of Environmental and Resources Economics, Aldershot (Edward Elgar).
28. The inputs of this production function are, in an ecological economics sense, thought as to be flows of materials, energy and information (Christensen, [29], p. 79 ff.).
29. Christensen, P. (1991) 'Driving forces, increasing returns and ecological Sustainability', in: Costanza, R. (Ed.) Ecological Economics - The Science and Management of Sustainability, New York (Columbia University Press).
30. The production function assumed here is similar to that denoted by N. Georgescu-Roegen but is abstracted from one of his main arguments, namely the time dimension of production and the funds and flows concept (cf. Gowdy/O'Hara, [31], p. 243; Daly, [32], p. 204 ff.).
31. Gowdy, J. and O'Hara, S. (1997) 'Weak sustainability and viable technologies', Ecological Economics 25 (3), pp.239-247.
32. Daly, H. E. (1991) Steady-State Economics, Washington, D.C. (Island Press).
33. See Daly ([34], pp.26-28) for a discussion of complementarity; Daly also gives examples for the L-shape of isoquants as the one shown in Figure 3.
34. Daly, H. E. (1994) Operationalizing sustainable development by investing in natural capital', in: Jansson, A., Hammer, M., Folke, C. and Costanza, R. (Eds.) Investing in Natural Capital, Washington, D. C. (Island Press).
35. It is assumed that clean technologies yield a positive return on investment for firms (rational behaviour would lead to a realization of profit opportunities by installing clean technologies) at least in the long run by the so-called 'first-mover-advantage'; cf. Skea, [36], pp.397 ff.). The adoption of clean technologies, however, depends on a number of other important conditions as well, like the technological opportunities and availability of technologies, market demand (sales potential of an innovation) and appropriability conditions regarding the benefits from an innovation (Kemp et al., [37], pp.618 f.). Additionally, the development of clean technologies depends also on certain patterns of interaction. Innovation is a process embedded in a technological, economic and social context (Susse et al., [38], pp.541-545).
36. Skea, J. (1995) 'Environmental technology', in: Folmer, H., Gabel, H. L.and Opschoor, H. (Eds.): Principles of Environmental and Resources Economics, Aldershot (Edward Elgar).
37. Kemp, R., Olsthoorn, X., Oosterhuis, F. and Verbruggen, H. (1992) 'Supply and demand factors of cleaner technologies: some empirical evidence', Environmental and Resource Economics, 2(6), pp.615-634.
38. Susse, G., Røpke, I. and Jørgensen, U. (1992) 'Clean technology - innovation and environmental regulation', Environmental and Resource Economics. 2(6), pp.533-550.
39. Kort et al. ([40] pp.214 ff.) show with the help of an optimal dynamic control model for a profit maximizing firm that different governmental instruments (subsidies and grants as well as environmental taxation) can lean to increased use of clean technologies. Subsidies lead to increased governmental spending, but "government decreases pollution by stimulating investments in cleaner production technologies and it also stimulates economic growth, which leads to higher future profit taxation income and more employment" (p. 214). Thus the output effect may at least offset substitution effects.
40. Kort, P. M., Loon, v. P. J. and Luptácik, M. (1991) 'Optimal dynamic environmental policies of a profit maximizing firm, Journal of Economics, 54(3), pp. 195-225.
41. Steven, M. (1994a) Dynamische Analyse des Umweltfaktors in der Produktion, in: Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft 64(4), pp.493-513. (Dynamic Analysis of Environmental Inputs in Industrial Production)
42. Cf. also Khanna/Zilberman [43] who show that adoption of precision technologies not necessarily reduces inputs or pollution in all cases.
43. Khanna, M. and Zilberman, D. (1997) 'Incentives, precision technology and environmental protection', Ecological Economics, 23(1), pp.25-43.
44. The connection between marginal cost and reduction of output due to pollution abatement as 'end-of-pipe' technologies was shown by Kohn [45].
45. Kohn, R.E. (1988) 'Efficient scale of the pollution-abating firm, Land Economics, 64(1), pp.53-61.
46. Steven [19] pp.122 ff.] also emphasizes the substitutive relations between pollution and other factors of production.
47. Eco-balances usually analyze the entire production process (not only in monetary terms but in physical units) as well as the connection between the firm's organization and natural resource inputs (and environmentally harmful outputs) and the environmental impact of single products (the ecological backpack or footprint perspective was most recently discussed by Wackernage/Rees, [48]).
48. Wackernagel, M. and Rees, W. E. (1997) 'Perceptual and structural barriers to investing in natural capital: economics from an ecological footprint perspective', Ecological Economics, 20[1], pp.3-24.
49. Cf. the results of the empirical study in Section 3.
50. Schmidt-Bleek, F. (1994) Wieviel Umwelt braucht der Mensch? mips - Das Maβ für ökologisches Wirtschaften, Berlin, Basel, Boston (Birkhäuser). (How much Natural Resources for Human Beings?)
51. Hinterberger, F., Luks, F. and Schmidt-Bleek, F. (1997) 'Material flows vs. 'natural capital' - what makes an economy sustainable?' Ecological Economics 23 (1), pp.1-14.
52. As an often cited example a major company producing copy machines does not sell their machines any more, but focuses on the services provided to customers, i.e. copies. See for lots of examples v. Weizsäcker et al., [53]; for a comprehensive introduction to the theoretical concepts: Giarini/Stahel, [54].
53. Weizsäcker, E. U. v., Lovins, A. B. and Lovins, L. H. (1995) Faktor vier: Doppelter Wohlstand - halbierter Naturverbrauch, München (Droemer Knaur). (Factor 4: Double Welfare, Half Natural Resources Inputs)
54. Giarini, O. and Stahel, W. (1989) The Limits to Certainty. Facing Risks in the New Service Economy, Dordrecht, Boston (Kluwer Academic Publishers).
55. Kuhn, M. (1996) 'Produktdifferenzierung und Sustainable Development - Was kann die Industrieökonomik zu den neueren Ansätzen der Umweltökonomie beitragen?', in: Köhn, J., Welfens, M. J. (Eds.): Neue Ansätze in der Umweltökonomie, Marburg (Metropolis-Verlag), 479-505. (Product Differentiation and Sustainable Development - Contributions of Industrial Economics)
56. The price elasticity of demand depends itself, e.g.. on the availability of substitutes, thus considering price and output affects needs also thorough analysis of other goods markets as well.
57. Part of the negative employment effects may be offset by additional employment in sectors producing clean technologies.
58. As detailed analysis is documented in Kosz [59].
59. Kosz, M. (1997) Integrierter Umweltschutz und Arbeit: erste Erfahrungen und langfristige Perspektiven. Informationen zur Umweltpolitik 123, Vienna (Kammer fürArbeiter und Angestellte). (Integrated Environmental Protection and Employment Effects: First Experiences and Long-run Perspectives)
60. As will also be mentioned below, the boards of directors were asked a series of open-ended questions regarding especially their opinions on effects of cleaner production technologies. Representatives of employees have been included in the questionnaire and had the chance of contributing to the answers, too.
61. The return quotas of questionnaires were reached after urging firms by additional phone calls to return their questionnaires.
62. For a detailed description of the 'Prepare'-process and the financial support available in Austria cf. Schnitzer/Jasch [63].
63. Schnitzer, H. and Jasch, C. (1995) PREPARE. Textbuch für innovalives, umweltbewuβtes Wirtschaften, Vienna (Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft Forschung und Kunst; Bundesministerium für Umwelt). (Prepare - A Manual for Innovative and Environmentally Conscious Businesses)
64. The low return rate with this program is due to the fact that many firms who realized only minor environmental measures were included in the data base and thus could not answer detailed questions on the employment impacts of clean technologies. A detailed analysis above others on the environmental impact of this program was done by Kanatschnig et al. [9] (cf. also Kanatschnig, [65]).
65. Kanatschnig, D. (1995) Regionale Cleaner Production Programme in Österreich, in: Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst; Bundesministerium für Umwelt (Eds.): Proceedings of the Cleaner Production Roundtable, Vienna (Bundesministerium für Umwelt), pp. 12-15. (Regional Cleaner Production Programs in Austria)
66. Due to the small number of firms and their heterogeneity, no statistical testing has been used to verify or falsify hypotheses. In this sense, the paper is more explorative giving hints than a thorough statistical analysis.
67. In some of the environmental management literature, the social (motivational) consequences of integrated environmental measures are considered an explicit motive of firms (cf. Sietz/Firck, [68], pp.48-57). This point has also been stressed by Hildebrandt [23] who emphasizes the importance of involving workers in environmental management processes which otherwise would run unto ground.
68. Sietz, M. and Firck, J. (1993) 'Betriebliche Umweltschutzmaßnahmen', in: Gahrmann, A., Hempfling, R., Sietz, M. (Hrsg.): Bewertung betrieblicher Umweltschutmaβnahmen. Ökologische Wirksamkeit und ökonomische Effizienz. Taunusstein (Eberhard Blottner Verlag). (Environmental Measures in Firms)
69. This finding is congruent with empirical evidence provided by Kanatschnig et al. [9, pp.101-105].
70. Higher work satisfaction is noted by the board of directors of participating firms, not by workers themselves (who were not asked directly; only their representatives had the possibility to answer specific questions). So, one must be cautious with generalizing this argument. However, the answers of workers' representatives were in line with the arguments of the boards of directors.
71. This might be the reason that in 8% of participating firms the work load for managers increased significantly due to new technologies and new management objectives.
72. Schneider, M. and Getzner, M. (1998) Cleaner Production and Employment Effects in the Macroeconomy: Simulation Results for Austria. Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Economic Analysis, Research Report 9814, Vienna.