Conference Agenda

In light of the European Union’s (EU) effort towards climate neutrality by 2050, this research aims at investigating the governmental actions of EU countries targeted at firms to achieve this ambitious sustainability goal. For this purpose, we applied a secondary data analysis methodology on a database of the European Environment Agency, collecting national climate and energy policies and measures (PAMs) of 10 European countries. The selected PAMs (107) were classified and compared based on policy focus (e.g., emissions reduction) and policy type (e.g., command-and control). The analysis of geographical and temporal distribution shows similarities and differences in the implementation of PAMs across Europe. Notably, it also emerges that some environmental objectives have received less attention (e.g., soil pollution), while some policy instruments have a higher frequency of implementation (e.g., market-based policies). This wide-ranging and comparative analysis of PAMs contributes to decision sciences research, practice and policy making.

Achieving a sustainable and green transition is a multifaceted and complex interplay of factors affecting the policy realm. By focusing on the European context, in this paper we identify green firms through the use of machine learning (ML) techniques by analysing their mission statements. We also collected a unique and comprehensive dataset of national-level policies addressing the different topics covered by the European Green Deal. In a regression analysis at country level, we examines the interplay between the national regulatory framework and the birth and growth of the green energy landscape. Our results indicate that the introduction of policies favours by itself the birth of innovator firms and their growth in the country. An increasing number of policies has a regulatory effect in the ecosystem limiting the number of newborn firms while favouring the growth of existing ones.

“This study was carried out within the « The European green energy industry: equity financing instruments and policies in the climate action agenda» project –funded by the Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca –within the PRIN 2022 program(D.D.104 02/02/2022). This manuscript reflects only the authors’ views and opinions and the Ministry cannot be considered responsible for them”.

Governments announce various sustainability-related policies, including net-zero emissions and financial subsidies, to encourage companies to develop sustainable products and consumers to purchase them. A smart electric vehicle (SEV) is one of the most popular sustainable products. Typically, SEVs use the Internet of Things and AI to maximize sustainability performances while they are required to collect personal information. Accordingly, to evaluate the influence of government initiatives on consumer sustainability engagement in adopting SEVs, we consider multiple aspects such as environmental performance, smart technology, and privacy concerns. We adopt the privacy-common good trade-off theory to understand consumers’ sustainability-related decisions regarding SEVs, focusing on the interplay of various factors that influence consumer sustainability engagement in adopting SEVs. We use a mixed methods approach with a qualitative study regarding the role of government intervention and a quantitative study to find the relationships between government policies and consumer sustainability engagement in adopting SEVs.