Systems of provision is an approach to the study of consumption that recognises the social and economic organisation of the delivery of goods and services. Essentially, it is a holistic approach that situates the analysis of consumption in relation to processes of production, distribution, and retail. Moreover, it places consumption in historical context and so provides a useful way of thinking through changes in patterns of consumption and, more broadly, socio-economic change. It is most readily associated with the work of Ben Fine and was initially developed in The World of Consumption (1993), written in conjunction with Ellen Leopold.

This dissertation aims to integrate the circular economy in the “System of provision” approach. The student can choose a certain sector e.g. transportation infrastructure or consumer goods, and study how the circular economy can reshape the provision of goods and services. Examples of questions that the student(s) can address are:

• How the implementation of circular economy principles changes the volume of consumption? (e.g. consumers might decide to buy more of a product since it is considered “green”?)
• How the implementation of circular economy principles changes the nature of consumption? (E.g. the lifecycle becomes longer/short, alternative products are chosen etc.)
• How the implementation of circular economy principles changes the pricing mechanism? (e.g. price decreases because re-using is convenient, or increases because of marketing decisions?)

This dissertation will be co-supervised by Dr Benito Mignacca from the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio (Italy). Dr Mignacca is a Research Fellow in Economic and Managerial Engineering. He obtained his PhD at the University of Leeds (UK) in 2021, where he received the 2021 School of Civil Engineering Postgraduate Award in recognition of his academic performance. Before joining the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio in 2022, he worked as Research Fellow in “Energy Storage Economics and Finance” at the University of Leeds, where he supervised several Master’s students for their dissertations. He co-authored >10 peer-reviewed publications about large infrastructure, and he attracted >60000€ in research funding related to large infrastructure.