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An evolutionary game-theoretic approach for analysis of green innovation and environmental performance of tech firms under stakeholders’ policies based on system dynamics

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Abstract

Considering the stakeholders’ pressure and the high cost/risk of green technological innovation (GTI), the tech firms are challenged over whether or not both of its components, namely green process innovation (GPsI) and green product innovation (GPdI), should be adopted. Focusing on both components raises the final product price, adversely affecting the consumers’ willingness to pay. In this study, evolutionary game theory and system dynamics were employed following a combinatory approach to analyze the evolutionary behavior of the GTI system with emphasis on both GPdI and GPsI through a feedback process. For this purpose, the tech firms’ environmental performance under evolutionary stable strategies was examined. In addition, the impact of the tech firms’ environmental performance on their evolutionary behavior and the consumers’ purchasing approach was analyzed. The simulation results indicate that tech firms exhibit different environmental behaviors in various game scenarios. In the fourth scenario, where tech firms choose both GPsI and GPdI and consumers prefer the first-type green product, the environmental performance of tech firms is superior compared to other scenarios. Conversely, in the second scenario, where tech firms opt for GPdI and consumers lean toward the second type of green product, tech firms demonstrate poor environmental performance. When consumer environmental awareness is dynamic. The evolutionary rate of tech firms and consumers exceeds that of the other scenarios. It was also found that effective government intervention can accelerate the system’s evolution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran

    Mohammad-Ali Eghbali & Morteza Rasti-Barzoki

  2. Department of Industrial Engineering, Birjand University of Technology, Birjand, Iran

    Mohammad-Ali Eghbali

  3. Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Science, Quchan University of Technology, Quchan, Iran

    Soroush Safarzadeh

Authors
  1. Mohammad-Ali Eghbali
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  2. Morteza Rasti-Barzoki
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  3. Soroush Safarzadeh
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Contributions

Mohammad-Ali Eghbali contributed to the conceptualization, methodology, software, data curation, writing—original draft, visualization, and investigation. Morteza Rasti-Barzoki was involved in the supervision, validation, project administration, and writing—review and editing. Soroush Safarzadeh assisted in the conceptualization, methodology, validation, and review and editing.

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Correspondence to Morteza Rasti-Barzoki or Soroush Safarzadeh.

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Eghbali, MA., Rasti-Barzoki, M. & Safarzadeh, S. An evolutionary game-theoretic approach for analysis of green innovation and environmental performance of tech firms under stakeholders’ policies based on system dynamics. Clean Techn Environ Policy (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-024-02782-6

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