Circular economy and frugal innovation: a conceptual nexus

Frugal innovation (FI) and circular economy (CE) are two concepts that are recently being deliberated among researchers, policymakers, businesses, governments, and international organizations. Being a nascent development, both still lack an extant body of theories and data. Undisputedly they both share commonalities in gathering tractions among scholars. But the conceptual relationship between them has been unclear and hence makes it difficult to understand how one can promote the other. The current work constructs a conceptual framework through literature, explicating nexus, characteristics, and indicators of the two concepts and then exploring this framework through case analysis and focus group discussion (FGD). The results of our findings show that the two concepts are outcome of considerations on resource constraints and/or resource optimization; promote redesigning of product and services to minimize resources while achieving core functionality; involve the participation of stakeholders; and are implemented in stages. Most importantly, they foster the three pillars of sustainable development—social equity, economic prosperity, and environmental quality. However, supportive policies and institutions are largely associated with the development of CE which is not the same for FI in most countries. We conclude that FI being mainly operational in the emerging economies could serve as a veritable enabling tool for promoting the CE concept in the developing regions of the globe but will require the support of formal institutions and policies.