Eco-innovation and management: an empirical analysis of environmental good practices and labour productivity in the spanish hotel industry

Can the implementation of eco-innovation measures improve apparent labour productivity in hotel establishments? Based on data from a sample of 173 hotel establishments with three or more stars, this article suggests that these measures improve apparent labour productivity. We define the variable “eco-innovative” as an indicator of environmental management and introduce it in a widely-used production function with a set of control variables that represents some characteristics of the hotels for which we have information. The econometric results indicate that the implementation of additional eco-innovative practices increases labour productivity on average by 8.15%. However, the results also suggest that this increase occurs as a function of a certain level of investment in these types of environmental measures, after which level the variation in apparent labour productivity may become negative. The results obtained have managerial implications that should encourage hotel managers to reconsider their level of commitment to the implementation of eco-innovative practices.