2021/08/26 by Francesca Bassi, Bassi, Francesca, Mariangela Guidolin +1
Business, Management and Accounting · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Applications (stat.AP) #Energy, Environment, Economic Growth #Environmental Sustainability in Business #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Sustainable Supply Chain Management
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2108.11610
openalex publication_date 2021/08/26 · openalex created_date 2022/10/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Purpose of the paper: This paper explores size and potential of green\nemployment for Circular Economy (CE) in SMEs in the European Union and\ninvestigates the role of green jobs and skills for the implementation of CE\npractices. Design/methodology/approach: The data are collected in a\nEurobarometer survey, and refer to resource efficiency, green markets, and CE\npractices. Lack of environmental expertise is one of the factors that might be\nperceived as an obstacle when trying to implement resource efficiency actions.\nPrevious research shows that, although resource efficiency practices are\nadopted by firms in all European countries, there are differences both within\nand between countries. The analysis of the determinants of green behavior by\nEuropean SMEs is completed by a study of heterogeneity across firms and within\ncountries with a multilevel latent class model, a hierarchical clustering\nmethod. Findings: A general important evidence is that having no workers\ndedicated to green jobs is strongly correlated to the probability of adopting\nresource efficiency practices, while perceiving the need of extra environmental\nskills has a positive effect on the intention to implement actions in the\nfuture. Other characteristics of the firms play a significant impact on\nresource efficiency: in general, older and bigger firms, with larger yearly\nturnover, are more prone to implement actions. The type of chosen action varies\nacross activity sectors. What is original/value of paper: In the reference\nliterature, the relationship between green jobs, environmental skills, workers\nemployed in CE practices, and resource efficiency has received limited\nattention so far.\n