The role of geographical scales in sustainability transitions: An empirical investigation of the European industrial context

Abstract

The journey towards sustainability has become paramount to industry, government and research. To date, the main contributions have proposed valuable theoretical models to study the transitions to sustainability. However, a quantitative examination of the phenomenon is still limited. In this paper, we exploit a multilevel-growth model to empirically explore the relevance of different geographical scales in studying sustainability transitions. By analysing a novel, 9-year longitudinal dataset that covers European carbon emission intensity data on four different scales (from specific districts to whole states), we show whether and how multiple geographical scales support the study of sustainability transition pathways. Drawing on our analysis, we contribute to the debate on economic geography, sustainability transition and carbon emission intensity, as well as discuss implications for sustainability policy, strategy and research.