# Resource efficiency and Circular Economy in European SMEs: Investigating the role of green jobs and skills

**Authors:** Francesca Bassi, Mariangela Guidolin  
**arXiv:** [2108.11610](https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.11610)  
**Date:** 2021-08-26  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/arxiv-id/2108.11610v1/

## Key points

- Significance of green employment for Circular Economy (CE) within Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union
- Focus on size and potential of green jobs, and their role in facilitating implementation of CE practices
- Research methodology involving data collection through Eurobarometer survey covering resource efficiency, green markets, and CE practices
- Lack of environmental expertise perceived as a barrier to adopting resource efficiency actions within SMEs
- Variations in resource efficiency practices adoption within and between European countries
- Use of multilevel latent class model to analyze determinants of green behavior among European SMEs
- Not having dedicated workers for green jobs linked to lower adoption rates of resource efficiency practices
- Recognition of need for additional environmental skills positively impacts firms' intentions to implement such actions in the future
- Characteristics such as firm age, size, and annual turnover significantly influence likelihood of implementing resource efficiency measures
- Choice of specific actions varies across different activity sectors within SMEs operating in the EU

## Summary

The significance of green employment for Circular Economy (CE) within Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union is explored in this paper. It focuses on the size and potential of green jobs, as well as their role in facilitating the implementation of CE practices. The research methodology involves data collection through a Eurobarometer survey covering aspects such as resource efficiency, green markets, and CE practices. One key finding highlighted is that a lack of environmental expertise can be perceived as a barrier to adopting resource efficiency actions within SMEs. While firms across all European countries embrace resource efficiency practices to some extent, there are variations both within countries and between them. To further analyze the determinants of green behavior among European SMEs, a multilevel latent class model is employed using a hierarchical clustering method to study heterogeneity across firms and within countries. The research reveals that not having dedicated workers for green jobs is strongly linked to lower adoption rates of resource efficiency practices. On the other hand, recognizing the need for additional environmental skills has a positive impact on firms' intentions to implement such actions in the future. Additionally, certain characteristics such as firm age, size, and annual turnover significantly influence the likelihood of implementing resource efficiency measures. Moreover, the choice of specific actions varies across different activity sectors. This paper contributes valuable insights by shedding light on the relationship between green jobs, environmental skills, workers engaged in CE practices, and resource efficiency within SMEs - a topic that has received limited attention in existing literature. By highlighting these connections and factors influencing adoption rates of sustainable practices, this research provides important implications for policymakers, businesses, and other stakeholders aiming to promote sustainability initiatives within SMEs operating in the EU.