Rent-Seeking\, Entrepreneurship\, and Environmental Outcomes: Insights from a Comparative Case Study Analysis of Circular Economy Practices
\nDr Andrew Smith\, University of Birmingham
\n6:00pm\, May 21st\, 2026
Bush House South East Wing (SE) 2.10 \;
A Research Workshop under the Market Economies and Green Ideals project
\nThis is an in-person only public event that is free of charge\, but booking is essential. Please RSVP via CSGS website.
\nEvent Description:
\nRent-seeking occurs when entrepreneurs use the political process to enrich themselves in ways that reduce rather than enhance overall economic efficiency. Lobbying for tariffs or other policies that shield producers from more efficient competitors is a classic example of rent‑seeking behaviour. Our paper uses three historical case studies to examine how rent‑seeking entrepreneurship can harm environmental outcomes and\, in particular\, how it can undermine progress towards a circular economy in which the waste of natural resources is minimised. We document historical examples of profit‑seeking firms creating circular‑economy production arrangements\, followed by state actions that disrupted these arrangements. The industries in our case studies are the steel industry\, meat packing\, and textiles. Our paper challenges some of the dominant assumptions about the relationship between profit-seeking activity and environmental protection that are present in much of the environmental policy\, management studies\, and circular‑economy literature. We suggest that profit‑seeking entrepreneurship in competitive and lightly regulated markets may\, at least in some circumstances\, deliver superior environmental outcomes\, particularly when this profit-seeking activity occurs in an institutional environment that reduces transaction costs.
\nAbout the Speaker:
\nAndrew Smith \;is Associate Professor in Responsible Management at the University of Birmingham&rsquo\;s Business School\, where he joined the Department of Management in 2023. He previously taught at a number of British and Canadian universities. His research sits at the intersection of business history\, institutional analysis\, and entrepreneurship. Smith&rsquo\;s published work engages with theorists ranging from Elinor Ostrom to Oliver Williamson\, and Michel Foucault\, and appears in leading journals including Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice\, Journal of Management Studies\, Business History Review\, and Business History. His research examines macro‑level questions about the pre-conditions for free and prosperous societies\, meso‑level analyses of firms and corporate governance\, and micro‑level foundations of organisational behaviour\, drawing on qualitative methods and extensive archival research. He has held research grants from bodies such as the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
\nCo-author: Pierre Desrochers\, Associate Professor\, Department of Geography\, Geomatics and Environment\, University of Toronto Mississauga
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