Consuelo Calafat Marzal

Amid an accelerated energy transition and growing regulatory and competitive pressures, this study analyses how energy and environmental constraints condition industrial productivity in the EU‐27 (2014–2024) and what role innovation plays in this process. It pursues two objectives: (i) to identify whether energy and emissions intensities constitute necessary conditions for high productivity; and (ii) to assess whether business innovation effort moderates their relationship with productivity and whether this effect is homogeneous across European economies. The analysis combines Necessary Condition Analysis, which identifies structural thresholds, with bias‐corrected dynamic fixed‐effects panel models, which allow productivity persistence and interaction effects to be analysed. Results show that energy and environmental pressures operate not as transitory costs but as structural constraints on industrial performance. From an economic policy perspective, this implies that the green transition requires considering energy and environmental constraints jointly with business innovation effort, taking into account structural differences across European economies.

Resource efficiency has become a priority for the European agri‐food sector, yet adoption remains uneven across countries and firms. This study examines how European agri‐food small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt resource efficiency practices. The study draws on institutional theory and the resource‐based view, adopting a two‐stage empirical design. Using Flash Eurobarometer 549, entropy weighting, TOPSIS, and VIKOR, we compare adoption patterns across 10 EU countries, while ordered logistic regression examines firm‐level factors associated with adoption intensity among 174 agri‐food SMEs. The findings suggest that cross‐country differences in adoption are associated with institutional contexts, whereas firm‐level variation is related to financial resources, external support, and implementation difficulties. Process improvements are widely adopted across SMEs, whereas more advanced practices such as renewable energy use and eco‐design vary to a greater degree across countries. The study provides comparative evidence on resource efficiency practice adoption, highlighting the relevance of national contexts and firm‐level resources.

Esta obra, compuesta por quince capítulos, aborda el papel fundamental que desempeña la fiscalidad en la consecución de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) relacionados con el reto medioambiental y los efectos nocivos del cambio climático. Los sistemas fiscales pueden contribuir al cumplimiento de los ODS establecidos por las Naciones Unidas en la Agenda 2030. Es más, consideramos que son una herramienta muy útil para ello y ese es el objetivo de la presente publicación. Para ello se plantea una obra colectiva dividida en tres partes en las que, como si de una pirámide invertida se tratara, se analiza, en primer lugar, la eficacia de la introducción de un componente medioambiental en la fiscalidad en el ámbito europeo y nacional; en un segundo plano se tratan estrategias fiscales concretas que promueven la circularidad y los ODS; y se cierra con un análisis de derecho comparado. En este contexto, esta publicación abordada temáticas cruciales, tales como la cooperación internacional y la fiscalidad ambiental, el impacto del cambio climático en la tributación, las políticas de gestión de residuos y la economía circular, así como las estrategias fiscales que se están llevando a cabo en otros países.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a prominent role in the ecological transition process needed to curb climate change. The European commitment to eliminate emissions by 2050 requires significant changes in business structures. This research seeks to provide quantitative information on the level of efficiency of the activities carried out by 13,343 companies of the EU-27. The aim is twofold: (1) to analyse the link between resource efficiency and green markets; and (2) to evaluate the boost that certain public and private measures can give to the green processes undertaken by SMEs, as these economic units are responsible for the bulk of carbon emissions. DEA-Bootstrap is applied, confirming the asymmetry between green markets and resource efficiency in efforts to achieve climate neutrality, with more progress needed on the latter to help tackle environmental challenges. Decision-makers should target subsidies to ensure the circularity of productive systems and thereby make progress on meeting the goals established by the 2030 Agenda. The study focuses on European SMEs, showing that in countries such as Denmark, the level of resource efficiency could improve by more than 72% if SMEs were provided with tools for self-assessing their activity, consultancy services, grants, and financial and technological advice, as well as a better understanding of the advantages offered.