Promoting the Opportunity Identification of Industrial Symbiosis: Agent-Based Modeling Inspired by Innovation Diffusion Theory

Kaifang Zheng and Suling Jia
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Kaifang Zheng: School of Economics and Management, Beihang University; Beijing 100191, China
Suling Jia: School of Economics and Management, Beihang University; Beijing 100191, China

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 5, 1-24

Abstract: Promotion of the emergence of synergistic linkages between different firms is crucial in the development of Industrial Symbiosis (IS) networks or Eco-Industrial Parks (EIP). Appropriate strategies for the promotion of inter-firm interactions are required to enhance the emergence of IS networks through institutional capacity building. This research draws on insight from Diffusion of Innovations (DoI) theory, and considers the emergence and development of IS as a process where the knowledge, attitude and implementation of IS synergies are gradually adopted by firms. Accordingly, we propose an Agent-Based Model (ABM) to investigate the influence of promoting strategies associated with various dimensions of institutional capabilities, on the identification of opportunity sets for IS synergies. The simulation results show that both “Knowledge Coordination” and “Relationship Coordination” have a positive impact on the identification of IS opportunities (represented by the adoption of positive attitudes). However, the performance of promoting strategies depends to a great extent on the mobilization capacity and the characteristics of the specific IS solutions. We believe the proposed research provides insights and implications for the design of the strategies to promote effective IS practice.

Keywords: Industrial Symbiosis; promoting strategies; diffusion of innovation; Agent-based modeling and simulation; institutional capacity; opportunity identification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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