Research

At the CEBC we are actively engaged in a number of exciting research projects. We collaborate with industry, government, authorities as well as other academic partners and research institutes.

Current and Recent Research Projects

The public procurement of functions: A stepping stone for a more sustainable future

The aim of this project is to understand how Sweden can move towards more innovative and sustainable models for public procurement and towards more sustainable business models for suppliers. Public procurement has a large untapped potential as a policy tool for sustainability, because it makes up about 17% of Sweden’s GDP. However, the topic of sustainable public procurement has been largely overlooked by public actors and researchers alike.

The current procurement- and business models often do not take into account the environmental costs of the goods they describe. In contrast, functional business- and procurement models have the potential to be more resource efficient and to minimize waste and emissions. Instead of specifying a product or service to be bought, functional procurement models describe a need to be met or a problem to be solved, without specifying the technology or business model required for its solution. From the business side, functional business models describe a function to be delivered, without specifying the product or service that will be used to deliver this function. For example, a company delivers a function such as ‘light’ instead of selling lamps. This leaves room for the most innovative and resource efficient solutions. We investigate how such models can be designed in light of legal frameworks and organizational structures and demands.

This interdisciplinary project involves researchers from the University of Linköping and the Stockholm School of Economics in the areas of law, management and engineering. The project is funded by the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation.

Keywords: Circular economy, sustainability

Researchers involved: Margo Enthoven, Sarah Jack

Entrepreneurship Education

Entrepreneurship programs are now a reality at many of the world’s universities and institutes of higher learning. In this project we study the long-term effects of this education initiative, especially pertaining to the issues of self-selection, theory vs practice pedagogics and societal benefits.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship education

Researchers involved: Rasmus Rahm