A multi-dimensional space to map national research communities in the circular economy: Any common pattern?

Whenever the policy challenges to address ask for a strong scientific background, decision makers depend on the underlying research activities. One of the fields in which research is able to affect the design and implementation of policies is given by the Circular Economy (CE). Our purpose in this paper is to understand how scholars carry out their research in the CE to realize whether a common pattern emerge and identify implications for policy. We provide a systematic investigation of the world's ten largest national research communities (NRCs) to highlight differences and similarities and understand the underlying patterns of research. We refer to eight key dimensions, which are mostly original ones and, therefore, represent elements of novelty of the paper: internationality, interdisciplinarity, specialization, relevance of local issues, policy implications, provision of case studies, research focus and research method. A dataset with 3027 CE-related research publications that range from 2001 to 2018 has been used for the elaborations. Results show some similarities and differences: everywhere, the empirical method prevails over the theoretical, and research is mostly focused on the micro-level of analysis (e.g., consumers and firms), while national research communities differ with respect to the openness to international collaborations, the degree with which some specific disciplines contribute to research in the field of CE, and the consideration of local issues provide. • A cross-country comparison of national research communities (NRCs) studying CE is offered. • NRCs are compared along eight key-dimensions using eleven indicators. • Empirical methods prevail over theory and research focus is on micro-level analyses. • Differences emerge with respect to interdisciplinarity and attention to local issues. • China, US, and European countries are moving along diverse research trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]