Saeed Parto and Brent Herbert-Copley (eds). Industrial Innovation and Environmental Regulation: Developing Workable Solutions.

Jalil, Hafiz Hanzla

Saeed Parto and Brent Herbert-Copley (eds). Industrial Innovation and Environmental Regulation: Developing Workable Solutions. New York: United Nations University Press. 2007. 305 pages. Paperback. Rs 2093.00.

This volume combines theoretical and conceptual analysis with empirical case studies of particular firms and industries in both industrialised and developing countries.

It approaches the issue from a different standpoint and examines the way in which environmental regulations interact with the characteristics of particular industrial sectors and firms in different socio-economic systems to influence the development of environmental technologies. It largely focus on understanding how environmental regulations fit into an overall innovation system, complete with context-specific institutional landscapes and less on the design of optimal environmental policy measures. It try to integrate and explore the scope for environmental and innovation policy-making processes. The volume put forward the need for comprehensive investigation of the regulation-environmental innovation nexus through understanding the formal and informal institutions that govern and transform industrial activity over time.

Environmental and innovation policies are not adequately integrated in most countries. But it is broadly accepted that there is constant interaction between innovation, environmental protection, and further innovation. Given that numerous countries have at least a formal environmental policy and an innovation policy, therefore the next logical step is to attempt to assimilate the objectives of the two policies. Hence providing support for R&D in the development of environmental technologies will explicitly ensure the application of innovation policy toward environmental protection.

The book is comprised of eleven chapters with ten case studies from numerous countries. The concluding Chapter (Eleven) provides a synthesis of the case studies put forward some broad insights into the interplay between environmental regulation, innovation as a process and a policy objective, and the implications for integrated policymaking geared toward better protection of the environment and improved economic performance.

This thought-provoking book will be of interest to those working in the areas of environment, growth, and innovation. (Hafiz Hanzla Jalil)