IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i16p7181-d1460848.html

Reevaluating Economic Drivers of Household Food Waste: Insights, Tools, and Implications Based on European GDP Correlations

Author

Listed:
  • Adrian Daniel Gencia

    (West University of Timisoara, Blvd. Vasile Parvan 4, 300223 Timisoara, Romania
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Ioana Mihaela Balan

    (University of Life Sciences “King Mihai I” from Timisoara, Calea Aradului 119, 300645 Timisoara, Romania
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between household food waste and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in various European regions, aiming to determine how economic prosperity influences the levels of household food waste. Using comparative analysis of secondary and tertiary data, a synthetic indicator (IpFW) was developed to assess the interaction between GDP per capita and household food waste per capita. Linear correlation analysis was also applied for better interpretation of the data. Despite expectations, higher GDP is not consistently correlated with lower household food waste, challenging economic prosperity and environmental stewardship assumptions. This research highlights the complexity of the interaction between economic factors and household food waste management, revealing a lack of significant correlation even at the regional level. The findings indicate a need to re-evaluate current policies and highlight that improving food supply chains and influencing consumer behavior can promote more sustainable consumption patterns, which is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Adrian Daniel Gencia & Ioana Mihaela Balan, 2024. "Reevaluating Economic Drivers of Household Food Waste: Insights, Tools, and Implications Based on European GDP Correlations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-21, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7181-:d:1460848
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7181/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/16/7181/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tomas RATINGER & Adam TOMKA & Iveta BOSKOVA, 2016. "Sustainable consumption of bakery products; a challenge for Czech consumers and producers," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 62(10), pages 447-458.
    2. Timothy J. Bartik, 1991. "Who Benefits from State and Local Economic Development Policies?," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number wbsle.
    3. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2004. "The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 526-556, June.
    4. Grier, Kevin B. & Tullock, Gordon, 1989. "An empirical analysis of cross-national economic growth, 1951-1980," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 259-276, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ioana Mihaela Balan & Teodor Ioan Trasca & Monica Ocnean & Adina Horablaga & Nicoleta Mateoc-Sirb & Cosmin Salasan & Jeni Veronica Tiu & Bogdan Petru Radoi & Raul Adrian Lile & Gheorghe Adrian Firu Ne, 2025. "Connecting SDG 2: Zero Hunger with the Other SDGs—Teaching Food Security and the SDGs Interdependencies in Higher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-22, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Diemer, Andreas, 2023. "Divided we fall? The effect of manufacturing decline on the social capital of US communities," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120355, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Guglielmo Barone & Sauro Mocetti, 2016. "Inequality And Trust: New Evidence From Panel Data," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(2), pages 794-809, April.
    3. W. Robert Reed, 2009. "The Determinants Of U.S. State Economic Growth: A Less Extreme Bounds Analysis," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(4), pages 685-700, October.
    4. Dearmon, Jacob & Grier, Kevin, 2009. "Trust and development," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 210-220, August.
    5. W. Robert Reed, 2006. "The Robust Relationship Between Taxes and State Economic Growth," Working Papers in Economics 06/13, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    6. Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, Victoria, 2002. "Meta-Analysis of the Impact of Fiscal Policies on Long-Run Growth," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 02-028/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 23 Apr 2003.
    7. Hasan, Iftekhar & (Stan) Hoi, Chun-Keung & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2020. "Is social capital associated with corporate innovation? Evidence from publicly listed firms in the U.S," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    8. W. Robert Reed & Cynthia L. Rogers, 2006. "Tax Burden and the Mismeasurement of State Tax Policy," Public Finance Review, , vol. 34(4), pages 404-426, July.
    9. Tomáš Lichard & Filip Pertold & Samuel Škoda, 2021. "Do women face a glass ceiling at home? The division of household labor among dual-earner couples," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1209-1243, December.
    10. Meng, Weilu & Lu, Weijie & Yuan, Gecheng & Zhou, Li, 2025. "Automation and stock market participation," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    11. Leah Platt Boustan & Matthew E. Kahn & Paul W. Rhode, 2012. "Moving to Higher Ground: Migration Response to Natural Disasters in the Early Twentieth Century," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 238-244, May.
    12. Crown, Daniel & Faggian, Alessandra & Corcoran, Jonathan, 2020. "Foreign-Born graduates and innovation: Evidence from an Australian skilled visa program✰,✰✰,★,★★," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(9).
    13. Gonzalez, Felipe & Prem, Mounu & von Dessauer, Cristine, 2023. "Empowerment or Indoctrination? Women Centers Under Dictatorship," SocArXiv 64mf9, Center for Open Science.
    14. Colas, Mark & Saulnier, Emmett, 2023. "Vertical migration externalities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    15. Matias Busso & Patrick Kline, 2008. "Do Local Economic Development Programs Work? Evidence from the Federal Empowerment Zone Program," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1639, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    16. Kong, Dongmin & Pan, Yue & Tian, Gary Gang & Zhang, Pengdong, 2020. "CEOs' hometown connections and access to trade credit: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    17. Innocenti, Federico & McCormick, Barry & Nicodemo, Catia, 2025. "Gatekeeping in primary care: Analysing GP referral patterns and specialist consultations in the NHS," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    18. Blanco, Luisa & Grier, Robin, 2012. "Natural resource dependence and the accumulation of physical and human capital in Latin America," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 281-295.
    19. Cantoni, Enrico & Gazzè, Ludovica & Schafer, Jerome, 2021. "Turnout in concurrent elections: Evidence from two quasi-experiments in Italy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    20. Ayyagari, Meghana & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2014. "Does local financial development matter for firm lifecycle in India ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7008, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:16:p:7181-:d:1460848. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.