Research Information System
in: Regulations in the Energy Industry Financial, Economic and Legal Implications, Andre Dorsman,Özgür Arslan-Ayaydın,James Thewissen, Editor, Springer, London/Berlin , Berlin, pp.1-25, 2020
Eco-efficiency is achieved by creating more
value with less environmental impact. Since Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
(SMEs) are responsible for most of the production in the industrial output,
their adoption of and awareness about elements of eco-efficiency is crucial for
green growth. In this study, we investigate the attitudes of Turkish SMEs over
three items concerning eco-efficiency: (i) increasing resource efficiency
investments, (ii) producing more environmentally compatible “green” products or
services, and (iii) the consumption of energy from renewable resources. To this
end, we utilize data on Turkish SMEs from the 2017 wave of the Flash
Eurobarometer, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Resource Efficiency and
Green Markets (GESIS) dataset and conduct descriptive analyses. Our investigation
of 299 SMEs from Turkey reveals that there is a distance between Turkish SMEs
and the elements of eco-efficiency. Many firms complain about administrative
and legal barriers to resource efficiency investments and acknowledge the need
for external support to improve resource efficiency. The results also indicate
that most of Turkish SMEs are unwilling to produce green products or services.
Furthermore, only a small fraction of the SMEs relies on renewable sources for
self-generation. As SMEs construct a sizeable portion of the output in the
economy, these results show that the contribution of SMEs to green growth will
be lacking in the coming years, unless further action is taken, and support
provided by the Turkish government.