Sufficiency: A systematic literature review

The making of sustainable economies calls for sufficiency in production and consumption. The discussion, however, lacks a shared understanding on what it means to operationalize sufficiency. In this article, we review and analyze the concept of sufficiency with a focus on its linkages to different e...

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Veröffentlicht in:Ecological economics 2022-05, Vol.195, p.107380, Article 107380
Hauptverfasser: Jungell-Michelsson, Jessica, Heikkurinen, Pasi
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The making of sustainable economies calls for sufficiency in production and consumption. The discussion, however, lacks a shared understanding on what it means to operationalize sufficiency. In this article, we review and analyze the concept of sufficiency with a focus on its linkages to different economic scales (with a focus on micro- and macroeconomics) and economic actors (particularly consumers and producers). Altogether 307 articles were screened, resulting in a final data set of 94 peer-reviewed articles. In addition to the core assumption of ‘enoughness’, we found three premises describing the concept: (1) complementarity of capitals, (2) social metabolism, and (3) altruism. In the reviewed literature, sufficiency is understood as both an end in itself and a means for bringing consumption and production within ecological limits. By conducting the first systematic literature review on sufficiency, the study explicates a more integrated understanding of sufficiency and highlights the need to treat sufficiency across economic scales and actors. In future research, empirical work should be emphasized to grasp the contextual varieties in the operationalization of sufficiency. •The first systematic literature review of sufficiency.•Three focal premises of sufficiency found.•Sufficiency is a transdisciplinary concept about ‘enoughness’.•Sufficiency is a means and an end in the transition towards sustainable economies.•Sufficiency conceptualized according to different economic scales and actors.
ISSN:0921-8009
1873-6106
DOI:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107380