Circular economy and innovative entrepreneurship, prerequisites for social progress
Abstract
Quality of life and social welfare are objectives of the social policy of any state. The study aims to identify the influence of factors such as the circular economy, digital innovation, sustainable entrepreneurship on social progress and completes the current approach identified in the literature by assessing the dependencies between the phenomena represented by them. The quantification of the influences of the enumerated factors on social progress was achieved by identifying some synthetic indicators, such as composite indices, which would surprise the complexity of the analyzed phenomena. To measure the progress of the transition to the circular economy – using multivariate analysis methods – a composite indicator has been proposed and determined that allows the ranking of EU states according to its orientation, as a premise of social progress, and can substantiate the adjustment national policies. The integration of the proposed indicator in the regression models used, with similar indices, is done to highlight the impact of the circular economy, innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship on social progress. Thus, the adaptation of digital technologies in current business models, the development of sustainable innovative entrepreneurship support the transition from the linear economy to a circular economy and offer new study opportunities.
Keyword : circular economy, entrepreneurship, digital innovation, social progress, multivariate analysis
How to Cite
Manea, D.-I., Istudor, N., Dinu, V., & Paraschiv, D.-M. (2021). Circular economy and innovative entrepreneurship, prerequisites for social progress. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 22(5), 1342–1359. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2021.15547
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Bressanelli, G., Adrodegari, F., Perona, M., & Saccani, N. (2018). The role of digital technologies to overcome Circular Economy challenges in PSS Business Models: an exploratory case study. Procedia CIRP, 73, 216–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2018.03.322
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Arbolino, R., De Simone, L., Carlucci, F., Yigitcanlar, T., & Ioppolo, G. (2018). Towards a sustainable industrial ecology: Implementation of a novel approach in the performance evaluation of Italian regions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 178, 220–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.183
Blomsma, F., & Brennan, G. (2017). The emergence of circular economy: a new framing around prolonging resource productivity. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21(3), 603–614. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12603
Bressanelli, G., Adrodegari, F., Perona, M., & Saccani, N. (2018). The role of digital technologies to overcome Circular Economy challenges in PSS Business Models: an exploratory case study. Procedia CIRP, 73, 216–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2018.03.322
Conboy, K., Mikalef, P., Dennehy, D., & Krogstie, J. (2020). Using business analytics to enhance dynamic capabilities in operations research: A case analysis and research agenda. European Journal of Operational Research, 281(3), 656–672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2019.06.051
Costanza, R., Kubiszewski, I., Giovannini, E., Lovins, H., McGlade, J., Pickett, K. E., Ragnarsdóttir, K. V., Roberts, D., De Vogli, R., & Wilkinson, R. (2014). Development: Time to leave GDP behind. Nature, 505(7483), 283–285. https://doi.org/10.1038/505283a
Davidescu, A. A., Apostu, S. A., & Paul, A. (2020). Exploring citizens’ actions in mitigating climate change and moving toward urban circular economy. a multilevel approach. Energies, 13(18), 4752. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13184752
De Pascale, A., Arbolino, R., Szopik-Depczyńska, K., Limosani, M., & Ioppolo, G. (2020). A systematic review for measuring circular economy: The 61 indicators. Journal of Cleaner Production, 281, 124942. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124942
Deloitte. (2018, April 5). Impactul economiei digitale asupra proceselor economice și administrative. Deloitte Romania. https://www2.deloitte.com/ro/ro/pages/strategy/articles/impactul-economiei-digitale-asupra-proceselor-economice-si-administrative.html
Dubey, R., Gunasekaran, A., Childe, S. J., Papadopoulos, T., Luo, Z., Wamba, S. F., & Roubaud, D. (2019). Can big data and predictive analytics improve social and environmental sustainability? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 144, 534–545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.06.020
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2019). Artificial intelligence and the circular economy. AI as a tool to accelerate the transition. Cowes, UK. https://emf.thirdlight.com/link/dl06eujbcbet-wx40o7/@/preview/1?o
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2015a). Delivering the circular economy: A toolkit for policymakers. Cowes, UK. https://emf.thirdlight.com/link/kewgovk138d6-k5kszv/@/preview/1?o
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2015b). Potential for Denmark as a circular economy. A case study from:
delivering the circular Economy – a toolkit for policy makers. Cowes, UK.
https://dakofa.com/element/denmark-and-the-circular-economy/
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2016). Intelligent assets: Unlocking the circular economy potential. Cowes, UK. https://emf.thirdlight.com/link/1tb7yclizlea-116tst/@/preview/1?o
European Commission. (2010). A Digital Agenda for Europe. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions (COM(2010)245 final). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52010DC0245&from=en
European Commission. (2011). Roadmap to a resource efficient Europe (COM(2011)571 final). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52011DC0571&from=EN
European Commission. (2015). Closing the loop – An EU action plan for the Circular Economy. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions (COM(2015)614/2). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52015DC0614&from=EN
European Commission. (2016, November 22). Next steps for a sustainable European future. European action for sustainability. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions (SWD(2016) 390 final). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/8105938/8292490/communication-next-steps-sustainable-europe-20161122_en.pdf/427f429a-5bc7-4476-a684-09da17ebc24f
European Commission. (2018a, January 16). Monitoring framework for the circular economy. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions (SWD(2018)17 final). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52018DC0029&from=EN
European Commission. (2018b). Impacts of circular economy policies on the labour market. Cambridge Econometrics, Directorate-General for Environment (European Commission), ICF, Trinomics. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/fc373862-704d-11e8-9483-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
European Commission. (2020). Circular economy action plan: For a cleaner and more competitive Europe. Brussels, Belgium. https://ec.europa.eu/environment/circular-economy/pdf/new_circular_economy_action_plan.pdf
European Economic Community. (1975). Council directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste (OJ L 194, 25.7.1975, pp. 39–41). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A31975L0442
Global Entrepreneurship Development Institute. (2019). Global Entrepreneurship Index.
https://thegedi.org/2019-global-entrepreneurship-index/
Gupta, S., Chen, H., Hazen, B. T., Kaur, S., & Gonzalez, E. D. S. (2019). Circular economy and big data analytics: A stakeholder perspective. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 144, 466–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.06.030
Hirsch, P. M., & Levin, D. Z. (1999). Umbrella advocates versus validity police: A life-cycle model. Organization Science, 10(2), 199–212. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.10.2.199
International Reference Centre for the Life Cycle of Products, Processes and Services. (2015). Circular economy: A critical literature review of concepts (pp. 1–92). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291957061_Circular_Economy_A_Critical_Literature_Review_of_Concepts
Kirchherr, J., Reike, D., & Hekkert, M. (2017). Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 127, 221–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.09.005
Kubiszewski, I., & Costanza, R. (2015). Measuring genuine social progress (Chapter 5, pp. 44–51). In J. Murray, T. Wiedmann, & D. McBain (Eds.), The sustainability practitioner’s guide to social analysis and assessment. Common Ground Publishing. http://www.idakub.com/academics/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2015_Kubiszewski_SocialProgress_Chapter.pdf
Kuznets, S. (1934). National income, 1929–1932 (73rd US Congress, 2d session, Senate document no. 124, pp. 5–7). U.S. Government Printing Office. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/national-income-1929-1932-971
Low, J. S. C., Tjandra, T. B., Yunus, F., Chung, S. Y., Tan, D. Z. L., Raabe, B., Ting, N. Y., Yeo, Z., Bressan, S., Ramakrishna, S., & Herrmann, C. (2018). A collaboration platform for enabling industrial symbiosis: Application of the database engine for waste-to-resource matching. Procedia CIRP, 69, 849–854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2017.11.075
Micu, A., Micu, A. E., Geru, M., Căpățînă, A., & Muntean, M. C. (2021). The impact of artificial intelligence use on the e-commerce in Romania. Amfiteatru Economic, 23(56), 137–154. https://doi.org/10.24818/EA/2021/56/137
Mihai, M. (2017). Is innovation the premise of social progress? Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, 17(2), 105–110.
Mikalef, P., & Krogstie, J. (2020). Examining the interplay between big data analytics and contextual factors in driving process innovation capabilities. European Journal of Information Systems, 29(3), 260–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/0960085X.2020.1740618
Mitrović, Đ., & Veselinov, M. (2018). Measuring countries competitiveness in circular economy-composite index approach. In Quantitative models in economics. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Economics Publishing Centre. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328759704_Measuring_Countries_Competitiveness_in_Circular_Economy_-_Composite_Index_Approach
Moraga, G., Huysveld, S., Mathieux, F., Blengini, G. A., Alaerts, L., Van Acker, K., de Meester, S., & Dewulf, J. (2019). Circular economy indicators: What do they measure? Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 146, 452–461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.03.045
Nardo, M., Saisana, M., Saltelli, A., Tarantola, S., Hoffmann, A., & Giovannini, E. (2008). Handbook on constructing composite indicators: Methodology and user guide. OECD Publishing. https://www.oecd.org/sdd/42495745.pdf
Naustdalslid, J. (2014). Circular economy in China – the environmental dimension of the harmonious society. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 21(4), 303–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2014.914599
Paintmaps. (2014). Color maps with statistical data. https://paintmaps.com/
Rana, R. L., Giungato, P., Tarabella, A., & Tricase, C. (2019). Blockchain applications and sustainability issues. Amfiteatru Economic, 21(13), 861–870. https://doi.org/10.24818/EA/2019/S13/861
Siminică, M., Avram, M., Popescu, L., & Avram, R. L. (2020). The adoption of national green procurement plans from the perspective of circular economy. Amfiteatru Economic, 22(53), 15–27. https://doi.org/10.24818/EA/2020/53/15
Social Progress Index. (2019). 2018 Social Progress Index. https://www.socialprogress.org/
Spigel, B. (2017). The relational organization of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41(1), 49–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12167
Stam, E. (2015). Entrepreneurial ecosystems and regional policy: A sympathetic critique. European Planning Studies, 23(9), 1759–1769. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2015.1061484
State of Green. (2016). Circular Economy: Denmark as a circular economy solution hub.
https://stateofgreen.com/en/publications/circular-economy-and-circular-business-models/
Szerb, L., Lafuente, E., Horváth, K., & Páger, B. (2019). The relevance of quantity and quality entrepreneurship for regional performance: The moderating role of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Regional Studies, 53(9), 1308–1320. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2018.1510481
Talberth, J., Cobb, C., & Slattery, N. (2007). The Genuine Progress Indicator 2006. Redefining Progress.
Tohănean, D., Buzatu, A. I., Baba, C., & Georgescu, B. (2020). Business model innovation through the use of digital technologies: Managing risks and creating sustainability. Amfiteatru Economic, 22(55), 758–774. http://doi.org/10.24818/EA/2020/55/758
Tsvetkova, A. (2015). Innovation, entrepreneurship, and metropolitan economic performance: Empirical test of recent theoretical propositions. Economic Development Quarterly, 29(4), 299–316. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891242415581398
United Nations, & General Assembly. (2015, October 21). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Seventieth session. Agenda items 15 and 116). https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_70_1_E.pdf
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