Building circular economy theories: A practical-oriented perspective and a way forward

Abstract

Despite the growing interest in circular economy (CE) and the recognition of CE as a research field, the process of building CE theories remains underdeveloped and disorganized. Relevant reasons might include a lack of a clear understanding of what a CE theory can be, the prevalence of gap-spotting research, and a lack of a common goal for CE scholars. First, this forum article defines “CE theory” adopting a positivistic approach. Second, the article presents a more organized structure toward the development of a CE theory oriented on empirical practices. In addition, this study highlights how the development of “partial CE theories” focusing on specific CE practices, or a combination of them, should be the first step toward an integrative CE theory. Third, the paper suggests two main ways for developing partial CE theories: (i) consolidating concepts already developed into elements of a theoretical framework; (ii) framing future pieces of explicative research that contribute to partial CE theories. Last, by adopting a positivistic approach and a practical-oriented perspective, this research provides an example of contribution to the partial theory of reuse. In particular, by leveraging the form of propositional theorizing, this article explains why reuse practices are expected to be observed in industries characterized by a high degree of product modularization, standardization, and innovation. In doing so, this forum article aims to enrich and foster theoretical contributions of future CE studies.