IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i21p12136-d671290.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy in European SMEs: Investigating the Role of Green Jobs and Skills

Author

Listed:
  • Francesca Bassi

    (Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy)

  • Mariangela Guidolin

    (Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Padova, 35121 Padova, Italy)

Abstract

This study explored the size and potential of green employment for circular economy (CE) in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union, and investigated the role of green jobs and skills for the implementation of CE practices. The data were collected in a Eurobarometer survey, and refer to resource efficiency, green markets, and CE procedures. Lack of environmental expertise is one of the factors that might be perceived as an obstacle when trying to implement resource-efficiency actions. Previous research has shown that, although resource-efficiency practices are adopted by firms in all European countries, there are differences both within and between countries. The analysis of the determinants of green behavior by European SMEs was completed by a study of heterogeneity across firms and within countries with a multilevel latent class model, a hierarchical clustering method. A general important observation is that having no workers dedicated to green jobs is strongly correlated to the probability of adopting resource-efficiency practices, while perceiving the need of extra environmental skills has a positive effect on the intention to implement actions in the future. Other characteristics of the firms play a significant impact on resource efficiency: in general, older and bigger firms, with larger yearly turnover, are more prone to implement actions.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesca Bassi & Mariangela Guidolin, 2021. "Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy in European SMEs: Investigating the Role of Green Jobs and Skills," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:12136-:d:671290
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/12136/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/12136/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Walter R. Stahel, 2016. "The circular economy," Nature, Nature, vol. 531(7595), pages 435-438, March.
    3. Triguero, Angela & Moreno-Mondéjar, Lourdes & Davia, María A., 2013. "Drivers of different types of eco-innovation in European SMEs," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 25-33.
    4. Ankit Gupta & Hemant Bherwani & Sneha Gautam & Saima Anjum & Kavya Musugu & Narendra Kumar & Avneesh Anshul & Rakesh Kumar, 2021. "Air pollution aggravating COVID-19 lethality? Exploration in Asian cities using statistical models," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 6408-6417, April.
    5. Jens Horbach & Christian Rammer, 2020. "Circular economy innovations, growth and employment at the firm level: Empirical evidence from Germany," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(3), pages 615-625, June.
    6. Kirchherr, Julian & Reike, Denise & Hekkert, Marko, 2017. "Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 221-232.
    7. Agusti Segarra-Blasco and Elisenda Jove-Llopis, 2019. "Determinants of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in European SMEs," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    8. Korhonen, Jouni & Honkasalo, Antero & Seppälä, Jyri, 2018. "Circular Economy: The Concept and its Limitations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 37-46.
    9. Concepción Garcés‐Ayerbe & Pilar Rivera‐Torres & Inés Suárez‐Perales, 2019. "Stakeholder engagement mechanisms and their contribution to eco‐innovation: Differentiated effects of communication and cooperation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1321-1332, November.
    10. Elisenda Jové-Llopis & Agustí Segarra-Blasco, 2018. "Eco-Efficiency Actions and Firm Growth in European SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-26, January.
    11. Burger, Martijn & Stavropoulos, Spyridon & Ramkumar, Shyaam & Dufourmont, Joke & van Oort, Frank, 2019. "The heterogeneous skill-base of circular economy employment," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 248-261.
    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. Łukasz Jarosław Kozar & Adam Sulich, 2023. "Green Jobs in the Energy Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Katherine Mansilla-Obando & Fabiola Jeldes-Delgado & Nataly Guiñez-Cabrera, 2022. "Circular Economy Strategies with Social Implications: Findings from a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    3. Fayuan Wang & Rong Wang & Zhili He, 2022. "Exploring the Impact of “Double Cycle” and Industrial Upgrading on Sustainable High-Quality Economic Development: Application of Spatial and Mediation Models," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Rui Jorge Carreira & José Vasconcelos Ferreira & Ana Luísa Ramos, 2024. "Mapping Circular Economy in Portuguese SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-19, August.

    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. Graziela Darla Araujo Galvão & Steve Evans & Paulo Sergio Scoleze Ferrer & Marly Monteiro de Carvalho, 2022. "Circular business model: Breaking down barriers towards sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1504-1524, May.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Doussoulin, Jean Pierre & Bittencourt, Mariana, 2022. "How effective is the construction sector in promoting the circular economy in Brazil and France? : A waste input-output analysis," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 47-58.
    6. OCOLIȘANU Andreea & DOBROTĂ Gabriela & AGÂRBICEANU Marcela Simona, 2022. "The Implications Of The Circular Economy On Sustainable Economic Growth," Management of Sustainable Development, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 14(1), pages 16-21, June.
    7. Katherine Mansilla-Obando & Fabiola Jeldes-Delgado & Nataly Guiñez-Cabrera, 2022. "Circular Economy Strategies with Social Implications: Findings from a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    8. Li, Huilong & Wei, Xinyuan & Gao, Xinyu, 2021. "Objectives setting and instruments selection of circular economy policy in China's mining industry: A textual analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    9. Chedrak Chembessi & Christophe Beaurain & Geneviève Cloutier, 2022. "Analyzing Technical and Organizational Changes in Circular Economy (CE) Implementation with a TOE Framework: Insights from a CE Project of Kamouraska (Quebec)," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 915-936, September.
    10. Aro, Joerabell Lourdes & Selerio, Egberto & Evangelista, Samantha Shane & Maturan, Fatima & Atibing, Nadine May & Ocampo, Lanndon, 2022. "Fermatean fuzzy CRITIC-CODAS-SORT for characterizing the challenges of circular public sector supply chains," Operations Research Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 9(C).
    11. P. J. Stephenson & Anca Damerell, 2022. "Bioeconomy and Circular Economy Approaches Need to Enhance the Focus on Biodiversity to Achieve Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-20, August.
    12. 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.
    13. Germán López Pérez & Isabel María García Sánchez & José Luis Zafra Gómez, 2024. "A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of eco‐innovation on financial performance: Identifying barriers and drivers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 1321-1340, February.
    14. Magdalena Rusch & Josef‐Peter Schöggl & Rupert J. Baumgartner, 2023. "Application of digital technologies for sustainable product management in a circular economy: A review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 1159-1174, March.
    15. Ángela Triguero & María C. Cuerva & Francisco J. Sáez‐Martínez, 2022. "Closing the loop through eco‐innovation by European firms: Circular economy for sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2337-2350, July.
    16. Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar & Shauhrat S. Chopra, 2022. "Leveraging Blockchain and Smart Contract Technologies to Overcome Circular Economy Implementation Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, August.
    17. 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.
    18. Elisa Chioatto & Paolo Sospiro, 2023. "Transition from waste management to circular economy: the European Union roadmap," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 249-276, January.
    19. Daniel Jugend & Hugo Henrique dos Santos & Susana Garrido & Regiane Máximo Siqueira & Jaime A. Mesa, 2024. "Circular product design challenges: An exploratory study on critical barriers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4825-4842, July.
    20. Albérico Travassos Rosário & Joana Carmo Dias, 2023. "The New Digital Economy and Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-23, July.

    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:13:y:2021:i:21:p:12136-:d:671290. 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.