Sustainable innovation and frugal innovation: Exploring the relationships between Innovation and sustainability

This paper is a conceptual attempt to position sustainable innovation and frugal innovation in relation to sustainability principles. We contribute to the literature by analyzing together two kinds of innovation that have recently been documented separately in the field of innovation studies: sustainable innovation and frugal innovation. We consider sustainable innovation as relating to the directions taken by innovation efforts toward environmental performance and the improvement of social relations. Frugal innovation on the other hand is defined as a new technological paradigm, mainly driven by the search for low-cost products for poor people or less rich consumers. We picture how and why the two kinds of innovation can be considered new developments. We also argue that frugal innovation has properties of sustainability. Finally, we consider the two as responsible innovation, a new category in the field of innovation studies. This paper usefully clarifies the relationship between innovation and sustainability.