Circular Economy and Financial Aspects: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Abstract

The objective of this article is to analyze the pre-existing studies that investigate the link between the circular economy and financial aspects in order to understand the evolution of the circular economy literature and its relationship with finance. In addition, it proposes an investigation of empirical evidence of economic-financial gains resulting from the adoption of circular production practices. The methodology used to achieve this goal was a systematic review of the literature and bibliometric analysis. Thus, it was possible to conclude that the barriers faced by companies adopting the circular economy in relation to financial performance are defined by (i) the size of the business and the initial investment cost, (ii) difficulties for micro and small companies, (iii) to a more complex structuring of the business, and (iv) greater exposure to risk, as the circular economy is a new concept and is and not as representative as a linear standard system. The results show that few studies investigate corporate gains from circular production, which is, therefore, an important topic for future research and the major contribution of this paper.