Paper separationsblad - Chalmers tekniska högskola

Method
me to obtain a larger number of observations, improving the power of the
statistical tests.
3.3.1 Data collection
The data consisted of publicly available accounting data and a survey based
on an early version of the conceptual framework in Paper I, which was sent
to the Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of small environmental technology
firms.
The sampling frame of environmental technology firms was generated from
the register of Swentec – “the Swedish Environmental Technology Council”.
Swentec was a Swedish government project from 2007 to 2010 which, in
response to the EU Environmental Technology Action Plan (ETAP), built a
database of Swedish environmental technology firms. Swentec identified a
total of 901 environmental technology firms. The firms were selected based
on ETAP’s (European Commission, 2004) definition of environmental
technologies. 17 Swentec began its search by examining a subset of the firms
in Statistics Sweden’s 18 environmental and economic accounts and
subsequently extended the search. 19 Swentec chose to include producers of
energy-technologies from the environmental accounts but to exclude power
producers. 20 Each firm was evaluated via interviews and an application form,
to check whether it matched ETAP’s definition of environmental
technologies. 21 In the end, there were 21 different technology fields. 22
To narrow the sampling frame to only include small firms, accounting data
retrieved from Bolagsinfo, a Nordic provider of business accounting records,
was used to exclude firms that did not meet the below criteria.
• only limited companies (Swedish “Aktiebolag”)
• 1 (2) to 49 employees
• no holding companies or firms that reported dividends from shares in
other firms
• profit margin between -100% and +100%
17 ”Technologies whose use is less environmentally harmful than relevant alternatives […]
They encompass technologies and processes to manage pollution (e.g. air pollution control,
waste management), less polluting and less resource-intensive products and services and ways
to manage resources more efficiently (e.g. water supply, energy-saving technologies).”
(European Commission, 2004, p. 2)
18 Statistics Sweden is a Swedish government agency.
19 Although Statistics Sweden’s environmental and economic accounts are based in part on
NACE codes, Swentec’s inclusion criteria and implementation are not based on NACE codes.
20 According to an interview with Statistics Sweden’s Swentec liaison Mats Eberhardson, 2012-
06-25.
21 According to an interview with the former Swentec project leader Catarina Hedar, 2012-06-
20.
22 These technology fields are: Air pollution control, Bioenergy and biofuels, Cooling
technology, District heating, Energy efficiency, Energy storage and hybrid systems,
Environmental- consultants- training and information, Heat pumps, Hydro power, Marine
technologies, Material technology, Noise protection, Soil remediation, Solar energy technology,
Sustainable building, Systems- engineering- control- engineering and monitoring,
Transportation, Waste management and recycling, Water and wastewater treatment, Wave
power, and Wind energy technology.
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