Technical Report for DOE grant ER63467-1020269-0008388 ''International Innovation & Diffusion of Environmental Technologies: The Case of NOX''
This research traces the development of nitrogen dioxide (NOX) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution control devices for coal-fired power plants in the United States, Japan, and Germany. This is of particular interest because of the timing of regulation in each country. While the US was an early adopter of SO2 regulations, it did not adopt stringent NOX regulations until the 1990s. Both Japan and Germany adopted stringent NOX regulations earlier. As such, advanced control techniques such as selective catalytic reduction (SCR) were first developed in Japan and Germany. In contrast, US firms were more active in the development of SO2 control devices. This study uses patent data from the three countries, as well as adoption data for individual plants, to trace the development of these technologies. Of particular interest is the role of technology transfer. While we know from previous research that firms respond to new regulations in their own country with new innovations, we do no t know the extent to which firms respond to regulations in foreign countries. Moreover, we know little about how innovations developed abroad enter the domestic knowledge base. For example, do firms make direct use of knowledge developed in foreign countries, or is domestic R&D necessary to adapt these innovations to local conditions. Understanding such trends is important, as it affects both the speed at which technology will diffuse, and the cost of technology transfer. To address these issues, this research compares the role that domestic and foreign knowledge play in the decisions of firms to adopt new environmental technologies. I begin by using patent and regulatory data from the U.S., Japan, and Germany to study the links between both domestic and foreign environmental policy and innovation. I show that innovative activity responds to domestic environmental policy pressures, but not to foreign pressures. Moreover, even countries that adopt regulations late, such as th e U.S. in the case of NOX, increase innovative activity in response to new domestic regulations. Thus, firms do not simply take advantage of technologies developed abroad. Next, I use these patent data to study the links between available technology and adoption of NOX pollution control technologies at U.S. coal-fired power plants. By far the most important factor influencing adoption is regulatory pressure. Simply having a new technology available is not enough to encourage adoption. Moreover, technological progress only increases adoption rates for the most advanced technologies. Since regulations are still the primary force driving adoption, more readily available techniques are chosen unless newer ones are sufficiently advanced to justify the extra cost. Moreover, as many of these techniques were first developed abroad, adaptive R&D occurs in the US before adoption. Such R&D can be expected to slow the pace of international technology transfer of new environmental technologies.
- Research Organization:
- Syracuse University, Syracuse NY (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Office of Biological and Environmental Research Integrated Assessment Program (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG02-02ER63467
- OSTI ID:
- 834472
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER/63467-1; TRN: US200507%%109
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 18 Nov 2004
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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