Circular and Bio Economy Barriers and Drivers in Worker Cooperatives

Circular economy and the bioeconomy are increasingly recognised as complementary innovation pathways for achieving environmental sustainability, preserving economic competitiveness. A growing body of literature has examined circular- and bioeconomy-related innovation at the firm and sectoral level, yet there is little evidence investigating whether a company’s organisational architecture impacts circular and bioeconomy adoption. In this paper, we delve into the worker cooperative model, where workers collectively own and manage the company. Accordingly, we propound that the drivers and barriers shaping circular-bioeconomy innovation in worker cooperatives may follow distinct patterns compared to conventional, investor-owned companies, due to the democratic governance and the embeddedness of such companies within territories and communities. This paper reviews academic literature on circular economy, bioeconomy and the union of the two, and worker cooperatives. Based on a sample of 28 peer-reviewed studies from Web of Science, we conduct a thematic analysis to identify and systematise the main drivers and barriers to circular and bioeconomy innovation of worker cooperatives. The analysis is organised along multiple analytical dimensions. In addition, the paper maps the indicators used in the literature to measure circular bioeconomy-related innovation, highlighting differences in operationalisation and the limited attention devoted to labour- and worker-related dimensions.