دانلود رایگان مقاله توسعه محصول سبز: فضای محصول کشور به چه معناست؟

Abstract

This paper contributes to green product development by identifying the green products with the highest potential for growth in a country. To address our aim, we use the concept of product proximity and product space and, borrowing from the results of recent studies on complexity economics, we advance that the green products with the highest potential for growth among all green products in a given country are those being in close proximity to the products a country produces with high Relative Comparative Advantage (RCA). We test this hypothesis performing a regression analysis. We build the product space for 141 different countries for the years between 2005 and 2013 and for each country we compute the maximum proximity of each green product to the products with high RCA (i.e., the proximity of the product source of competitive advantage closest to the green product considered). Results confirm that green products with high maximum proximity to the products with high RCA had the highest growth. So doing, we contribute to the literature by providing a new application of the product space as a policy making tool for green development. We also provide several applications of the proposed method.

5. Conclusions

Which green products should the policy makers of a country support by means of policy actions so as to meet both the economic and environmental aims, or in other terms reach sustainable economic development? Our analysis proves that the green products with the highest potential for growth in a given country are those in close proximity to the products the country produces with high competitiveness compared with other countries. Choosing to support these products makes sense because it would exploit the requisite capabilities the country already possesses in terms of infrastructure, human capabilities, and natural resources for economic development in an environmental direction. In fact, those countries where a given green product has high proximity to products with RCA>1 have already the requisite capabilities within their productive structure to successfully produce it. Hence, policy measures should be devoted to supporting investments into this product, because it has a great likelihood of growing in the next few years. In this way, high efficacy is assured to the policy action. On the contrary, countries where a given green product has low proximity to the products with RCA>1 do not have the requisite capabilities needed for its production. Therefore, sustaining such a product by simply “pumping money” will not be enough to assure its development. For these products, governments should take “strategic bets” by focusing their efforts on accumulating the capabilities required to produce green products (Abdon and Felipe, 2011; Hausmann and Hidalgo, 2011; Felipe et al., 2014). This outcome is important especially considering that literature is often limited to highlighting the benefits of green development and the need to support it, with emphasis on the capabilities required for green development from the demand side but with limited concern for the supply side. This study wishes to contribute to the literature on the application of the product space as a policy making tool for green development. First, it provides statistical significance to the intuition by Hamwey et al. (2013) who, by developing the green product space of Brazil and using this tool, identified the green products that should be supported by means of policy actions. Moreover, it also extends the application by Huberty and Zachmann (2011), who used the concept of product proximity to green products and provided preliminary results for two green products exported by two countries.