2 research outputs found
‘Demand pull’ government policies to support Product-Service System activity: the case of Energy Service Companies (ESCos) in the UK
Product-Service Systems (PSSs) constitute a family of service-based business models designed to satisfy
our societal needs in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner. To date however PSS
application has remained niche due to a variety of critical barriers. This paper explores how ‘demand
pull’ national government policies could support PSS activity by addressing these barriers and cultivating
market demand. Lessons are drawn from a case study of how regulatory, economic incentive, informative
and procurement policies have supported Energy Service Company (ESCo) activity in the UK; a sub-set of
the PSS family focused on energy service provision. Subsequently five policy recommendations are
presented to support PSS activity: (1) balancing economic incentives and regulatory disincentives; (2)
promoting indirect policy support; (3) redesigning existing market structures; (4) promoting locally-led
PSS activity; and (5) creating stable policy frameworks. The paper warns however that national government
policy cannot easily address all PSS barriers, such as customer preferences, international developments,
technological progress and inherent business model weaknesses, pointing to the need for
other complementary solutions. Furthermore, other governance actors beside national government could
also implement PSS supporting policies