Circular Business Research Articles

The role of second-hand markets in circular business: a simple model for leasing versus selling consumer products

This paper explores the role of the second-hand market when transitioning to a closed-loop system where products are leased multiple times. The total cost of ownership for consumers and profitability for manufacturers are compared in circular and linear business cases. We find that while second-hand markets were beneficial for manufacturers of durable goods in a linear system, since they increased the consumers’ willingness-to-pay for new products, the same second-hand markets might restrict the profitability of a closed-loop business model. A high resale value results in a relatively low cost of ownership in the sales system and additional activities in the closed-loop model (such as managing the lease contracts and refurbishment) add significant costs to the supply chain. Consequently, the economic (and environmental) benefits of leasing products already traded on second-hand markets in the linear system are often limited. Our simple analytical model allows a quick and dirty analysis of multiple scenarios with a minimum of inputs. We argue that manufacturers lack these kinds of models to guide them in navigating circular economy business models.

The Development Measures of Circular Economy in Jilin Province

The development of circular economy is the strategic choice of Jilin Province to improve overall competitiveness. This article described specific measures of the development of circular economy in Jilin Province from five aspects as follows: the building of circular economy industrial park and business groups, the development of modern agriculture, improve the utilization of water resources, as well as the construction of laws and regulations.

Some generalizations of the circular city model

This paper contains two generalizations of a previous model studied by Zitron which dealt with a continuous approach to the determination of minimal cost transportation routes. That model consisted of a circular central business district where the cost density of construction is constant surrounded by an annular transition region whose cost density varies inversely as the distance from the center. The region surrounding the annular transition region has constant cost density. In the previous case, an analysis was carried out which permitted the determination of minimal-cost routes between two diametrically opposite points at the city limits. The present paper generalizes these results to the case where the origin and destination are at the city limits but need not be diametrically opposite and to the case where the points are diametrically opposite but lie outside the city limits.

A continuous model of optimal-cost routes in a circular city

This paper deals with the determination of optimal-cost routes in a circular city where the routes are not confined to a discrete network, but may vary continuously. The Euler-Lagrange equation is derived for the general radially-symmetric case for position-dependent cost. This equation is solved by quadratures. In a special case, the integral representation is evaluated explicitly. A model of a circular city is then assumed, consisting of a circular central business district surrounded by a transition zone. A detailed analysis is then carried out which permits the determination of optimal-cost routes. The results may be employed to improve decision-making in regard to whether to build bypasses around, or direct routes through, a city.