The geography of circular economy: job creation, territorial embeddedness and local public policies

Abstract

To date, few studies have analysed the geography of the circular economy, especially its contribution to economic activity on a sub-regional scale. In this context, our paper aims to analyse the evolution of employment and activities in the circular economy at the local level in France. For this purpose, we use a database on job creation and companies in the circular economy between 2008 and 2015 and we propose for the first time a study measuring the creation of jobs and companies in the CE. We show that the growth of employment in the circular economy is higher than the growth of total employment. Moreover, we highlight that the number of companies in the circular economy is mainly concentrated in metropolitan areas. We also point out the regional effect of the growth of the circular economy, indicating the territorial embeddedness of this type of activity. Based on this observation, we assume that regional public policies play a significant role in the deployment of a circular economy.

Keywords:

• circular economy
• local public policies
• employment growth
• territorial embeddedness
• spatial concentration

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Notes

1 Circular Economy and Territorial Consequences (CIRCTER) is a European applied research project co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the EU Member States and the partner states Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. It was implemented by a network of teams from four EU countries, which analysed the territorial determinants of circular economy growth.

2 Morgan and Mitchell (2015) conducted a study for the WRAP and Green Alliance groups, analysing the potential for labour market job creation in Britain through improved resource efficiency through circular economy activities. In part, this work adopts a spatialised regional approach to jobs generated by circularity practices.

3 The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) defines the EZ as “a geographical area within which most of the active population resides and works, and in which establishments can find most of the labour required to fill the jobs on offer”.

4 The French National Agency for Ecological Transition

5 See the results including Paris and Corsica in the online supplementary appendices.

6 https://www.laregion.fr/Environment-and-Landscapes

7 This notion, which is often contested (Oliveau and Doignon 2019), refers to a representation of territories that are less populated than the French average, forming a band that crosses the country from the North-East to the South-West.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the Agence de la Transition Ecologique (ADEME) for the thesis grant.