Post-growth policies and business transformation: A mixed-methods expert assessment of perceived relevance

Josefine Henman and Manuel Suter

No n8yf6_v1, SocArXiv from Center for Open Science

Abstract: This article examines how different policies are perceived by researchers regarding their relevance in supporting the transformation of traditional businesses toward reducing ecological footprints, securing well-being, and increasing social equity. While post-growth scholarship has discussed a wide range of policy proposals, their implications for business transformations remain underexplored. To address this gap, the study combines a quantitative survey of 1,734 sustainability policy researchers with qualitative focus group discussions with post-growth business scholars. The survey results indicate that the majority of policy instruments are perceived as at least moderately relevant for supporting a business transformation towards post-growth. Descriptive analyses show that respondents with a degrowth work-orientation tend to perceive the instruments as more relevant than growth-indifferent or green growth-oriented respondents, with differences particularly pronounced for more structurally disruptive interventions. The qualitative analysis explores how post-growth business scholars perceive key tensions, barriers, and enabling conditions associated with three previously highly ranked policies: transitioning ownership structures, banning planned obsolescence, and introducing declining resource caps. Two central topics emerge from these discussions: the role of businesses’ profit orientation as a structural factor that may shape responses to policy interventions, and the importance of combining policies in order to address anticipated tensions and wider societal implications. The article bridges post-growth policy and business research by suggesting how different policy instruments and mixes may support business transformations in line with post-growth objectives.

Date: 2026-09-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-hme and nep-pke
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:socarx:n8yf6_v1

DOI: 10.31235/osf.io/n8yf6_v1

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