Innovations and Sustainable Development: Neoclassical versus Evolutionary Approach

In the last 20 years, the concept of ‘Sustainable Development’ (SD) has become very popular and widespread in the world. In particular, the environmental dimension of SD asks for new ways to accomplish enhanced quality of life with reduced environmental impact. As a consequence, innovations that contribute to sustainable pathways through an improved environmental quality (the so-called ‘Sustainable Innovations’ - SIs) are facing a growing interest. The present study aims at contributing to the debate about innovation and SD, by focusing on the analysis of SIs from, respectively, the neoclassical and the evolutionary perspective. Whereas neoclassical theorists neoclassical theorists focus on the ‘double externality problem’ of SIs, on the one hand, and on the factors that influence their implementation, on the other, evolutionary approach analyses mainly radical technological changes thus stressing the need for a consideration of additional aspects (in particular social and institutional ones) in the analysis of SIs.