Sufficiency as a matter of care: Practices to provide for needs

Laura Beyeler and Melanie Jaeger-Erben

Ecological Economics, 2025, vol. 238, issue C

Abstract: Sufficiency can be understood as the endeavors of economic actors to fulfill needs by delivering only what is necessary. This interpretation reveals a relationship between sufficiency and care economics, as both advocate for a need-centered economy. This study demonstrates the influence and support of care on the performance of sufficiency. It is divided into two parts: (1) the development of a care framework that describes the meanings and enablers of care, and (2) the analysis of empirical data from 14 sufficiency-oriented businesses from a care perspective using the care framework. The findings indicate that from a care perspective, the world is a network of vulnerable and interconnected beings who require individuals to engage in care relationships and activities. Time, financial resources, knowledge, collaboration, technologies, and narratives are essential enablers of care and, as the findings demonstrate, contribute to the implementation of sufficiency. This study proposes a novel narrative of sufficiency as a matter of care and encourages future scholars and practitioners to understand sufficiency orientation as part of a care economy—one that fulfils the needs of society over targeting profit maximization.

Keywords: Sufficiency; Care ethics; Care economics; Systems of provision; Sustainability transformation; Grounded theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:238:y:2025:i:c:s0921800925002204

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2025.108737

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