Clean technologies in German economic literature: a bibliometric analysis

Over the past two decades, clean technologies (cleantech) have emerged as an important economic factor with remarkable progress. Fueled by growing concerns about climate change and diminishing fossil fuel resources, governments have put aggressive stimulus packages in place to support emerging technologies that drive cleantech businesses. The industry operates in highly regulated market conditions which in turn raises the question of whether economists have addressed private and public information requirements. To answer this question and to explore the relationship between environmental economics and clean technologies, this paper examines German literature using co-citation analysis methods. Based on the co-citation analysis of 588 documents, our results suggest that researchers have provided a rather small and fragmented set of business knowledge for the cleantech industry. Despite its economic and environmental importance, research on the private use and economic impact of cleantech remains scarce.