The role of geographical scales in sustainability transitions: An empirical investigation of the European industrial context

Matteo Mura, Mariolina Longo, Laura Toschi, Sara Zanni, Franco Visani and Silvia Bianconcini ()

Ecological Economics, 2021, vol. 183, issue C

Abstract: The journey towards sustainability has become paramount to industry, government and research. To date, the main contributions have proposed valuable theoretical models to study the transitions to sustainability. However, a quantitative examination of the phenomenon is still limited. In this paper, we exploit a multilevel-growth model to empirically explore the relevance of different geographical scales in studying sustainability transitions. By analysing a novel, 9-year longitudinal dataset that covers European carbon emission intensity data on four different scales (from specific districts to whole states), we show whether and how multiple geographical scales support the study of sustainability transition pathways. Drawing on our analysis, we contribute to the debate on economic geography, sustainability transition and carbon emission intensity, as well as discuss implications for sustainability policy, strategy and research.

Keywords: Sustainability Transitions; Economic geography; Multi-scalarity; Carbon emission intensity; Multilevel growth models; Panel data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C33 O13 Q01 Q56 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:183:y:2021:i:c:s0921800921000264

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.106968

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