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Life and Death of Industrial Ecosystems

Author

Listed:
  • Weslynne S. Ashton

    (Stuart School of Business, Illinois Institute of Technology, 10 West 35th Street, Chicago, IL 60616, USA)

  • Shauhrat S. Chopra

    (Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2121 West Taylor Street (MC 673), Chicago, IL 60612-4224, USA)

  • And Rahul Kashyap

    (Department of Physics, University of Buffalo, Fronczak Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260-1500, USA)

Abstract

Self-organized industrial ecosystems (SOIEs) refer to communities of firms in diverse industries that spontaneously engage in Industrial Symbiosis (IS); that is, firms independently develop bilateral and multi-lateral interactions involving material, energy, and knowledge sharing for individual and collective benefit. Like biological ecosystems, self-organized industrial ecosystems must constantly respond to external perturbations. Resilience of SOIEs, or the ability of systems to maintain structure and function in response to perturbations, has been the focus of a few recent studies. However, these studies have only examined the network characteristics for resilience of IS in a static manner. The current study contributes to this emerging literature by examining the dynamics associated with growth (life) and demise (death) of self-organized industrial ecosystems in light of changing network dynamics and external perturbations, with emphasis on material and socio-economic aspects of connectivity between firms. This research is grounded in real world cases, but expands beyond these through hypothetical network models in order to ascertain the network characteristics that lead to more resilient structures and outcomes. A key distinction is made between SOIEs that include an anchor firm versus scavenger firms. The former typically involve a scale-free network structure where new member firms preferentially connect to actors with the most connections, while the latter involve more random, fully-connected networks where new member firms connect with multiple existing actors. The results imply that resilience of SOIEs do not arise from intrinsic properties of the system alone, but from the interplay of network topology with external social and ecological constraints.

Suggested Citation

  • Weslynne S. Ashton & Shauhrat S. Chopra & And Rahul Kashyap, 2017. "Life and Death of Industrial Ecosystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:4:p:605-:d:95701
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Weslynne S. Ashton, 2009. "The Structure, Function, and Evolution of a Regional Industrial Ecosystem," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 13(2), pages 228-246, April.
    2. John Ehrenfeld & Nicholas Gertler, 1997. "Industrial Ecology in Practice: The Evolution of Interdependence at Kalundborg," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 1(1), pages 67-79, January.
    3. Fraccascia, Luca & Giannoccaro, Ilaria & Albino, Vito, 2017. "Rethinking Resilience in Industrial Symbiosis: Conceptualization and Measurements," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 148-162.
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    Cited by:

    1. Fraccascia, Luca & Giannoccaro, Ilaria & Albino, Vito, 2021. "Ecosystem indicators for measuring industrial symbiosis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    2. Fraccascia, Luca, 2020. "Quantifying the direct network effect for online platforms supporting industrial symbiosis: an agent-based simulation study," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    3. Fraccascia, Luca, 2019. "The impact of technical and economic disruptions in industrial symbiosis relationships: An enterprise input-output approach," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 161-174.
    4. Juan Diego Henriques & João Azevedo & Rui Dias & Marco Estrela & Cristina Ascenço & Doroteya Vladimirova & Karen Miller, 2022. "Implementing Industrial Symbiosis Incentives: an Applied Assessment Framework for Risk Mitigation," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 669-692, June.
    5. Saskia Van Broekhoven & Anne Lorène Vernay, 2018. "Integrating Functions for a Sustainable Urban System: A Review of Multifunctional Land Use and Circular Urban Metabolism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-24, June.
    6. Fraccascia, Luca & Yazan, Devrim Murat & Albino, Vito & Zijm, Henk, 2020. "The role of redundancy in industrial symbiotic business development: A theoretical framework explored by agent-based simulation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    7. Luca Fraccascia & Vahid Yazdanpanah & Guido Capelleveen & Devrim Murat Yazan, 2021. "Energy-based industrial symbiosis: a literature review for circular energy transition," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 4791-4825, April.
    8. Hua Cui & Changhao Liu & Raymond Côté & Weifeng Liu, 2018. "Understanding the Evolution of Industrial Symbiosis with a System Dynamics Model: A Case Study of Hai Hua Industrial Symbiosis, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-25, October.
    9. Michael Martin, 2020. "Evaluating the environmental performance of producing soil and surfaces through industrial symbiosis," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(3), pages 626-638, June.
    10. Hélène Cervo & Stéphane Ogé & Amtul Samie Maqbool & Francisco Mendez Alva & Lindsay Lessard & Alexandre Bredimas & Jean-Henry Ferrasse & Greet Van Eetvelde, 2019. "A Case Study of Industrial Symbiosis in the Humber Region Using the EPOS Methodology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-32, December.
    11. Ilaria Giannoccaro & Valeria Zaza & Luca Fraccascia, 2023. "Designing regional industrial symbiosis networks: The case of Apulia region," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(3), pages 1475-1514, June.

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