IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i4p1633-d323591.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Systematic Literature Network Analysis of Existing Themes and Emerging Research Trends in Circular Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Fatima Khitous

    (School of Industrial Engineering, LIUC Università Cattaneo, 21053 Castellanza, Italy)

  • Fernanda Strozzi

    (School of Industrial Engineering, LIUC Università Cattaneo, 21053 Castellanza, Italy)

  • Andrea Urbinati

    (School of Industrial Engineering, LIUC Università Cattaneo, 21053 Castellanza, Italy)

  • Fernando Alberti

    (Institute for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness, LIUC Università Cattaneo, 21053 Castellanza, Italy)

Abstract

The debate about Circular Economy (CE) has been increasingly enriched by academics through a vast array of contributions, based on several theoretical perspectives and emanating from several research domains. However, current research still falls short of providing a holistic and broader view of CE, one that combines existing themes and emerging research trends. Accordingly, based on a Systematic Literature Network Analysis, this paper tackles this gap. First, a Citation Network Analysis is used to unearth the development of the CE literature based on papers’ references, whilst the Main Path is traced to detect the seminal papers in the field through time. Second, to consider the literature in its broader extent, a Keywords Co-Occurrence Network Analysis is conducted based on papers’ keywords, whereby all papers in the dataset, including the non-cited papers, are assessed. Additionally, a Global Citation Score analysis is conducted to uncover the recent breakthrough research, in addition to the Burst Analysis used to detect the dynamic development of CE literature over time. By doing so, the paper explores the development of the CE body of knowledge, reveals its dynamic evolution over time, detects its main theoretical perspectives and research domains, and highlights its emerging topics. Our findings unfold the evidence of eight main trends of research about CE, unearth the path through which the CE concept emerged and has been growing, and concludes with promising avenues for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Fatima Khitous & Fernanda Strozzi & Andrea Urbinati & Fernando Alberti, 2020. "A Systematic Literature Network Analysis of Existing Themes and Emerging Research Trends in Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-24, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1633-:d:323591
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1633/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1633/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rafael Laurenti & Jagdeep Singh & Björn Frostell & Rajib Sinha & Claudia R. Binder, 2018. "The Socio-Economic Embeddedness of the Circular Economy: An Integrative Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-10, June.
    2. Fenna Blomsma & Geraldine Brennan, 2017. "The Emergence of Circular Economy: A New Framing Around Prolonging Resource Productivity," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 603-614, June.
    3. Julie Marin & Bruno De Meulder, 2018. "Interpreting Circularity. Circular City Representations Concealing Transition Drivers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-24, April.
    4. Genovese, Andrea & Acquaye, Adolf A. & Figueroa, Alejandro & Koh, S.C. Lenny, 2017. "Sustainable supply chain management and the transition towards a circular economy: Evidence and some applications," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 66(PB), pages 344-357.
    5. Kirchherr, Julian & Piscicelli, Laura & Bour, Ruben & Kostense-Smit, Erica & Muller, Jennifer & Huibrechtse-Truijens, Anne & Hekkert, Marko, 2018. "Barriers to the Circular Economy: Evidence From the European Union (EU)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 264-272.
    6. Tuomas Mattila & Suvi Lehtoranta & Laura Sokka & Matti Melanen & Ari Nissinen, 2012. "Methodological Aspects of Applying Life Cycle Assessment to Industrial Symbioses," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 16(1), pages 51-60, February.
    7. Alan Murray & Keith Skene & Kathryn Haynes, 2017. "The Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Concept and Application in a Global Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 369-380, February.
    8. Winans, K. & Kendall, A. & Deng, H., 2017. "The history and current applications of the circular economy concept," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P1), pages 825-833.
    9. Nasir, Mohammed Haneef Abdul & Genovese, Andrea & Acquaye, Adolf A. & Koh, S.C.L. & Yamoah, Fred, 2017. "Comparing linear and circular supply chains: A case study from the construction industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(PB), pages 443-457.
    10. Per Davidsson & Murray B. Low & Mike Wright, 2001. "Editor's Introduction: Low and MacMillan Ten Years On: Achievements and Future Directions for Entrepreneurship Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 25(4), pages 5-15, July.
    11. Nees Jan Eck & Ludo Waltman, 2010. "Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(2), pages 523-538, August.
    12. Oliver Maaß & Philipp Grundmann, 2018. "Governing Transactions and Interdependences between Linked Value Chains in a Circular Economy: The Case of Wastewater Reuse in Braunschweig (Germany)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-29, April.
    13. Mateusz Lewandowski, 2016. "Designing the Business Models for Circular Economy—Towards the Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-28, January.
    14. Valentín Molina-Moreno & Juan Carlos Leyva-Díaz & Jorge Sánchez-Molina, 2016. "Pellet as a Technological Nutrient within the Circular Economy Model: Comparative Analysis of Combustion Efficiency and CO and NO x Emissions for Pellets from Olive and Almond Trees," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-16, September.
    15. Korhonen, Jouni & Honkasalo, Antero & Seppälä, Jyri, 2018. "Circular Economy: The Concept and its Limitations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 37-46.
    16. John A. Mathews & Hao Tan, 2011. "Progress Toward a Circular Economy in China," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 15(3), pages 435-457, June.
    17. Willi Haas & Fridolin Krausmann & Dominik Wiedenhofer & Markus Heinz, 2015. "How Circular is the Global Economy?: An Assessment of Material Flows, Waste Production, and Recycling in the European Union and the World in 2005," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 19(5), pages 765-777, October.
    18. John S. Liu & Louis Y.Y. Lu, 2012. "An integrated approach for main path analysis: Development of the Hirsch index as an example," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(3), pages 528-542, March.
    19. Melanie Haupt & Carl Vadenbo & Stefanie Hellweg, 2017. "Do We Have the Right Performance Indicators for the Circular Economy?: Insight into the Swiss Waste Management System," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 615-627, June.
    20. Li, Huiquan & Bao, Weijun & Xiu, Caihong & Zhang, Yi & Xu, Hongbin, 2010. "Energy conservation and circular economy in China's process industries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 4273-4281.
    21. Marcus Linder & Steven Sarasini & Patricia Loon, 2017. "A Metric for Quantifying Product-Level Circularity," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 545-558, June.
    22. Xudong Chen & Tsuyoshi Fujita & Satoshi Ohnishi & Minoru Fujii & Yong Geng, 2012. "The Impact of Scale, Recycling Boundary, and Type of Waste on Symbiosis and Recycling," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 16(1), pages 129-141, February.
    23. Joe Zhu, 2014. "Data Envelopment Analysis," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Quantitative Models for Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking, edition 3, chapter 1, pages 1-9, Springer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Roberta De Angelis & Robert Morgan & Luigi M. De Luca, 2023. "Open strategy and dynamic capabilities: A framework for circular economy business models research," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4861-4873, November.
    2. Alice Villar & Stefania Paladini & Oliver Buckley, 2023. "Towards Supply Chain 5.0: Redesigning Supply Chains as Resilient, Sustainable, and Human-Centric Systems in a Post-pandemic World," SN Operations Research Forum, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 1-46, September.
    3. Jacqueline M. Cramer, 2020. "The Function of Transition Brokers in the Regional Governance of Implementing Circular Economy—A Comparative Case Study of Six Dutch Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-21, June.
    4. Eglantina Hysa & Alba Kruja & Naqeeb Ur Rehman & Rafael Laurenti, 2020. "Circular Economy Innovation and Environmental Sustainability Impact on Economic Growth: An Integrated Model for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, June.
    5. He Soung Ahn & EuiBeom Jeong & Hyejin Cho, 2020. "Toward an Understanding of Family Business Sustainability: A Network-Based Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Roberta De Angelis & Giancarlo Ianulardo, 2024. "Circular economy principles as a basis for a sustainability management theory: A systems thinking and moral imagination approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4861-4870, July.
    7. Jacqueline M. Cramer, 2020. "Implementing the circular economy in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area: The interplay between market actors mediated by transition brokers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2857-2870, September.
    8. Jessica Bosisio, 2024. "A research landscape on customer co-creation value: a systematic literature network analysis," Italian Journal of Marketing, Springer, vol. 2024(3), pages 339-368, September.
    9. Shyaam Ramkumar, 2020. "Influence of Inter-Firm Network Relationships on Circular Economy Eco-Innovation Adoption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-22, September.
    10. Roberta Angelis, 2022. "Circular Economy Business Models: a Repertoire of Theoretical Relationships and a Research Agenda," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 433-446, June.
    11. Sohani Vihanga Withanage & Komal Habib, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment and Material Flow Analysis: Two Under-Utilized Tools for Informing E-Waste Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-21, July.
    12. Lucia Saraswati & Tuty Anggraini & Fauzan Azima, 2023. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Trends in Food Safety Research: The Case of Chili Sauce," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 10(9), pages 27-32, September.
    13. Thanh Tiep Le & Abhishek Behl & Gary Graham, 2023. "The Role of Entrepreneurship in Successfully Achieving Circular Supply Chain Management," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 24(4), pages 537-561, December.
    14. Rocsana Bucea-Manea-Țoniş & Aleksandar Šević & Milena P. Ilić & Radu Bucea-Manea-Țoniş & Nevenka Popović Šević & Larisa Mihoreanu, 2021. "Untapped Aspects of Innovation and Competition within a European Resilient Circular Economy. A Dual Comparative Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-16, July.
    15. Simone Sehnem & Edson Kuzma & Dulcimar José Julkovsky & Matheus Bochi Frare & Diego Vazquez-Brust, 2021. "Megatrends in Circular Economy: Avenues for Relevant Advancements in Organizations," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 173-208, June.
    16. Sobhi Mejjaouli, 2022. "Internet of Things based Decision Support System for Green Logistics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-23, November.
    17. Abderahman Rejeb & Karim Rejeb & Suhaiza Zailani & Yasanur Kayikci & John G. Keogh, 2023. "Examining Knowledge Diffusion in the Circular Economy Domain: a Main Path Analysis," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 125-166, March.
    18. Krzysztof Ejsmont & Bartlomiej Gladysz & Aldona Kluczek, 2020. "Impact of Industry 4.0 on Sustainability—Bibliometric Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-29, July.
    19. Domicián Máté & Ni Made Estiyanti & Adam Novotny, 2024. "How to support innovative small firms? Bibliometric analysis and visualization of start-up incubation," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-26, December.
    20. Miha Dominko & Kaja Primc & Renata Slabe-Erker & Barbara Kalar, 2023. "A bibliometric analysis of circular economy in the fields of business and economics: towards more action-oriented research," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 5797-5830, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chembessi Chedrak & Gohoungodji Paulin & Juste Rajaonson, 2023. "“A fine wine, better with age”: Circular economy historical roots and influential publications: A bibliometric analysis using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(6), pages 1593-1612, December.
    2. Armaghan Chizaryfard & Paolo Trucco & Cali Nuur, 2021. "The transformation to a circular economy: framing an evolutionary view," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 475-504, April.
    3. Bhavesh Kumar & Love Kumar & Avinash Kumar & Ramna Kumari & Uroosa Tagar & Claudio Sassanelli, 2024. "Green finance in circular economy: a literature review," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(7), pages 16419-16459, July.
    4. Ngan, Sue Lin & How, Bing Shen & Teng, Sin Yong & Promentilla, Michael Angelo B. & Yatim, Puan & Er, Ah Choy & Lam, Hon Loong, 2019. "Prioritization of sustainability indicators for promoting the circular economy: The case of developing countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 314-331.
    5. Jaime Sánchez-Ortiz & Vanesa Rodríguez-Cornejo & Rosario Del Río-Sánchez & Teresa García-Valderrama, 2020. "Indicators to Measure Efficiency in Circular Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-15, June.
    6. Jacopo Zotti & Andrea Bigano, 2019. "Write circular economy, read economy’s circularity. How to avoid going in circles," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 36(2), pages 629-652, July.
    7. Hervé Corvellec & Alison F. Stowell & Nils Johansson, 2022. "Critiques of the circular economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(2), pages 421-432, April.
    8. E. Sardianou & V. Nikou & K. Evangelinos & I. Nikolaou, 2024. "What are the key dimensions that CE emphasizes on? A systematic analysis of circular economy definitions," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 547-562, September.
    9. Raphaëlle Stewart & Monia Niero, 2018. "Circular economy in corporate sustainability strategies: A review of corporate sustainability reports in the fast‐moving consumer goods sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1005-1022, November.
    10. Animesh Ghosh & Prabha Bhola & Uthayasankar Sivarajah, 2022. "Emerging Associates of the Circular Economy: Analysing Interactions and Trends by a Mixed Methods Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-41, August.
    11. Tomasz Rokicki & Aleksandra Perkowska & Bogdan Klepacki & Hubert Szczepaniuk & Edyta Karolina Szczepaniuk & Stanisław Bereziński & Paulina Ziółkowska, 2020. "The Importance of Higher Education in the EU Countries in Achieving the Objectives of the Circular Economy in the Energy Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-17, August.
    12. Ghinoi, Stefano & Silvestri, Francesco & Steiner, Bodo, 2020. "The role of local stakeholders in disseminating knowledge for supporting the circular economy: a network analysis approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    13. Alexandra Barón & Rudi de Castro & Gerusa Giménez, 2020. "Circular Economy Practices among Industrial EMAS-Registered SMEs in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-25, October.
    14. Maryam Hina & Chetna Chauhan & Rajat Sharma & Amandeep Dhir, 2023. "Circular economy business models as pillars of sustainability: Where are we now, and where are we heading?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 6182-6209, December.
    15. German Arana‐Landin & Waleska Sigüenza & Beñat Landeta‐Manzano & Iker Laskurain‐Iturbe, 2024. "Circular economy: On the road to ISO 59000 family of standards," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 1977-2009, May.
    16. D. D’Amato, 2021. "Sustainability Narratives as Transformative Solution Pathways: Zooming in on the Circular Economy," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 231-242, June.
    17. Concepción Garcés-Ayerbe & Pilar Rivera-Torres & Inés Suárez-Perales & Dante I. Leyva-de la Hiz, 2019. "Is It Possible to Change from a Linear to a Circular Economy? An Overview of Opportunities and Barriers for European Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Companies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-15, March.
    18. Gilbert Silvius & Aydan Ismayilova & Vicente Sales-Vivó & Micol Costi, 2021. "Exploring Barriers for Circularity in the EU Furniture Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-25, October.
    19. Georgios Lanaras-Mamounis & Anastasios Kipritsis & Thomas A. Tsalis & Konstantinos Ι. Vatalis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou, 2022. "A Framework for Assessing the Contribution of Firms to Circular Economy: a Triple-Level Approach," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 883-902, September.
    20. Mathivathanan, Deepak & Mathiyazhagan, K. & Khorana, Sangeeta & Rana, Nripendra P. & Arora, Bimal, 2022. "Drivers of circular economy for small and medium enterprises: Case study on the Indian state of Tamil Nadu," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 997-1015.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1633-:d:323591. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.