Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.130047
Document accepted manuscript
Title (Primary) Chinese lessons on upscaling environmental policy concepts? A review of policy-oriented circular economy research
Author Luo, A.; Leipold, S.
Source Titel Journal of Cleaner Production
Year 2022
Department UPOL
Volume 333
Page From art. 130047
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Keywords Review; Circular economy; China; Multi-level governance; Centralized governance; Upscaling
Abstract Circular economy is a policy concept that requires mainstreaming to enable sustainable development through cleaner production and consumption. Unique among CE frontrunners, China's CE implementation is well-documented to be a major experimentation program at different scales. It therefore offers one example of CE upscaling. However, while China is the most studied CE case country, few works have conducted an in-depth analysis of its policy expansion through the scales of implementation. We take advantage of the abundant data source and review 104 scholarly works on Chinese CE policy development and implementation to find out the drivers and barriers behind its CE upscaling process. Our results show that the process was influenced by a complex interplay of centralized governance and multi-level dynamics through a rich portfolio of international, national and sub-national interactions, despite China's authoritarian governance. Yet, our results also suggest that China's macro-level CE development was hindered by implementation barriers stemming from weak multi-level governance. We conclude by drawing three generalizable key policy lessons for other regions and countries. These lessons are relevant for both ‘industrialized’ regions such as the EU with a longer history of prominent multilevel governance as well as ‘industrializing’ countries who look to China's development pathway as an alternative model of development to that of liberal democracy.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=25522
Luo, A., Leipold, S. (2022):
Chinese lessons on upscaling environmental policy concepts? A review of policy-oriented circular economy research
J. Clean Prod. 333 , art. 130047 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.130047