Persistent openness and environmental innovation: An empirical analysis of French manufacturing firms

The antecedents of environmental innovation and the impact of openness on technological innovation have been well studied, yet the role of external knowledge search remains largely unknown. This study explores whether six dimensions of open search (external R&D, acquisition, R&D cooperation, and three types of external information) enhance firms' radical and incremental innovation with environmental effects (El) when used either sporadically or persistently. It shows that the temporal dimension of openness matters. Persistent open knowledge search efforts are associated with a firm's propensity to introduce El, more so than sporadic search. Furthermore, the different types of knowledge search have heterogeneous effects on different types of El. It also shows that persistent innovation is more relevant in the case of radical El. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.