Commercializing circular economy innovations: A taxonomy of academic spin-offs

Abstract

Innovation and the commercialization of new technologies are seen as important drivers of the transition to a more sustainable development. An actionable strategy to achieve such a transition is outlined in the European Union strategy on resource efficiency and the development of a circular economy (CE). Academic spin-offs (ASOs) are new ventures based on scientific research that play an important role in commercializing technological innovations. However, the potential role of ASOs in the CE transition has not been systematically examined. We build on a unique dataset covering the population of ASOs in Norway and coded newspaper articles to identify potential CE-related innovations being commercialized by these firms. Using multiple correspondence analysis and clustering analysis, the ASOs were empirically classified along two dimensions related to the types of innovation (i.e., product or process) and the types of CE principle (i.e., narrow, slow, or close the production-consumption loop). Five clusters of CE-related ASOs were identified (i.e., smart product-service providers, technical process enhancers, biochemical cycle extenders, renewables providers, and biosphere regenerators), each having specific roles in the CE transition. This taxonomy can serve as a basis for more systematic comparisons of CE-related innovations across different firms and contexts. We conclude by outlining an agenda for further research and implications for how policies can harness the potential of ASOs to foster CE innovations.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 33 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.