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.
Highlights
Since the 1970s, a network of inter-firm synergistic linkages has gradually emerged in Kalundborg, Denmark, where firms trade their by-products and formed a cascade of interacting use of energy with one another, yielding remarkable environmental and economic benefits [1]
To fill this research gap, we propose an Agent-Based Model (ABM) to investigate how the promoting strategies influence the identification of opportunity sets for Industrial Symbiosis (IS) emergence
This paper investigates the performance of different strategies to promote the identification of opportunity sets for IS synergies
Summary
Since the 1970s, a network of inter-firm synergistic linkages has gradually emerged in Kalundborg, Denmark, where firms trade their by-products and formed a cascade of interacting use of energy with one another, yielding remarkable environmental and economic benefits [1]. Heeres et al, (2004) described the barriers that need to be overcome to establish symbiotic exchange relationships, including economic, informational, organizational, as well as legal and regulatory barriers They recognized the importance of the active participation of companies and the presence of the third party coordination agencies on the success of EIP development [6]. To fill this research gap, we propose an Agent-Based Model (ABM) to investigate how the promoting strategies influence the identification of opportunity sets for IS emergence In this model, we introduce the Diffusion of Innovation (DoI) theory to explain the behavior and decision-making of firms which are likely to be involved in IS, considering the identification of IS opportunities as the diffusion/adoption of the knowledge of certain IS synergies and the positive attitudes towards them.
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