The analysis of location in a science an technology park on sustainability performance through knowledge spillovers and absorptive capacity

Abstract

Sustainability performance requires reconciling an economic return with a reduction of business impact on the environment and ensuring social well-being. To improve sustainability performance, knowledge is a fundamental asset to develop new functional capabilities that impact on this triple bottom line. Science and technology parks are infrastructures that can offer greater knowledge spillovers on which the company can leverage its sustainability performance. This study confirms the beneficial effects of the location in a science and technology park on the improvement of the triple bottom line of a hosted company, provided that there are optimal conditions for the generation of more knowledge spillovers available to the company, and that the company is also be able to take advantage of them, especially through the development of an absorptive capacity. We test our hypotheses on a longitudinal database of Spanish companies over the period 2009 to 2016. The results obtained allow us to establish implications both for academia and practitioners.