The literature on the diffusion of the circular economy (CE) rarely provides empirical evidence from emerging economies that face institutional voids and sustainability paradoxes. In contrast, drawing on stakeholder theory, in this paper we test a research framework capable of capturing the imbricated and complex relations among stakeholder pressure, barriers to and motivators of the CE, circular business models, and firms' sustainable performance. Survey-based primary data was gathered from Brazilian industrial companies which lack regulatory clarity regarding the implementation of a CE. Our research results comprise both expected and unexpected outcomes: (i) differing from other countries, the relevance of regulatory stakeholders in Brazil could not be fully confirmed, adding complexity to the topic; (ii) unexpectedly, in this research, company owners/shareholders were the most salient stakeholders; (iii) stakeholders do indeed exert influence on how firms deal with barriers to and motivators of a CE; (iv) we found that internal barriers and internal motivators were perceived as more intense than external ones, which may create organizational tensions; (v) the adoption of a CE by firms tends to improve their sustainable performance; (vi) the previous possession of ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 certifications may control the way companies perceive the benefits of a CE.

中文翻译：

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利益相关者，循环经济的创新商业模式以及在面临制度空白的新兴经济中企业的可持续绩效。

关于循环经济（CE）扩散的文献很少提供来自面临制度空白和可持续性悖论的新兴经济体的经验证据。相反，在本文中，我们基于利益相关者理论，测试了一个研究框架，该框架能够捕获利益相关者压力，CE的障碍和动机，循环商业模式以及企业的可持续绩效之间的复杂联系。基于调查的主要数据来自巴西的工业公司，这些公司缺乏关于CE实施的监管规定。我们的研究结果包括预期和未预期的结果：（i）与其他国家不同，巴西监管利益相关者的相关性无法得到完全证实，这增加了该主题的复杂性；（ii）意外地，在这项研究中，公司所有者/股东是最重要的利益相关者；（iii）利益相关者确实确实对企业如何应对CE的障碍和动机产生了影响；（iv）我们发现内部障碍和内部动机比外部障碍更强烈，这可能造成组织紧张；（v）公司采用行政长官制度有助改善其可持续表现；（vi）以前拥有ISO 14001和ISO 9001认证可能会控制公司对CE好处的认识。（v）公司采用行政长官制度可改善其可持续表现；（vi）以前拥有ISO 14001和ISO 9001认证可能会控制公司对CE好处的认识。（v）公司采用行政长官制度可改善其可持续表现；（vi）以前拥有ISO 14001和ISO 9001认证可能会控制公司对CE好处的认识。