The Effect of Phases of the Adoption of the Circular Economy on Firm Performance: Evidence from 28 EU Countries
by
Ilija Moric 1, Jelena Šaković Jovanović 2,*, Rajka Đoković 3, Sanja Peković 1 and Đurđica Perović 1
Ilija Moric 1, Jelena Šaković Jovanović 2,*, Rajka Đoković 3, Sanja Peković 1 and Đurđica Perović 1
1
Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, University of Montenegro, Old Town 320, 85330 Kotor, Montenegro
2
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Montenegro, Cetinjska 2, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro
3
Faculty of Law, University of Montenegro, The street of July 13th 2, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2020, 12(6), 2557; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062557 (registering DOI)
Received: 4 February 2020 / Revised: 9 March 2020 / Accepted: 13 March 2020 / Published: 24 March 2020
Although a substantial body of literature has analysed the potential benefits of the circular economy, empirical evidence on the relationship between circular economy-related activities and firm performance is scarce. Rather than analysing only the effect of the circular economy on firm performance, we empirically examine the effects of the different phases of the adoption process of the circular economy on firm performance. Therefore, in this paper, a multiphase framework of circular economy adoption is developed. Employing a propensity-score-matching model on the sample of more than 4000 European SMEs, we show that the adoption of circular economy activities improves firm performance as measured by productivity. In addition, our findings reveal that the impact of circular economy activities on firm performance is dependent on the different phases of the adoption process. Taken together, this study enriches current research on the circular economy by contributing to a more nuanced understanding on the relationship between the different phases of the adoption process and firm performance.
View Full-Text
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Moric, I.; Jovanović, J.Š.; Đoković, R.; Peković, S.; Perović, Đ. The Effect of Phases of the Adoption of the Circular Economy on Firm Performance: Evidence from 28 EU Countries. Sustainability 2020, 12, 2557.
Show more citation formats
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
