Investigation of the relationship between circular economy and Hofstede’s cultural dimension models in European context

Details

Supervisors

De Rongé, Yves

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

In a globalized world where humankind faces an unprecedented challenge due to the climate crisis, a new vision of economic models has emerged to overcome the upcoming challenges: the circular economy. This paradigm shift aims to put the people, the planet, and profit at the center of decisions through environment regeneration and waste and pollution minimization. However, a globalized context puts severe stress on implementing new economic models as humans face different experiences, values, and cultures. While the scientific literature acknowledges the influence of cultural dimensions on sustainability practices, little research exists on the specific relationships between cultural dimensions and the circular economy. Hence, through a Pearson correlation analysis, a timeline analysis and a literature review, we have explored the potential link between the circular economy indicators extracted from Eurostat and Minkov-Hofstede's cultural dimensions model, a reviewed model of Hofstede's cultural dimensions model. We have found that the individualist-collectivist cultural dimension significantly correlates with multiple circular economy indicators, especially indicators of competitiveness and innovation. We have also explored the underlying mechanism behind such correlation, such as individualist values, beliefs, and experiences. In contrast, we found that the flexibility-monumentalism cultural dimension, formerly known as the long-term orientation, held a weaker overall correlation with the circular economy indicators, except for the circular material use rate and the greenhouse gas emissions from production activities. We have tried to identify the latent reasons behind these relationships.