Evaluating the economic and ecological effects of investment projects: A new model and its application to smartphone manufacturing in Europe

Abstract

Despite market volatility in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a decline in global investment flows to 2005 levels, sustainable development funds continued to grow. These data indicate a change in development vectors: now leading investors are guided by technologies for sustainable growth. The purpose of this paper is to determine the optimal model for evaluating investment projects in terms of their economic and environmental effects on the development of the region. The proposed technique is being tested for an investment project aimed at developing the production of mobile phones in Europe. As shown, the analysis of the location of the production of smartphones in Europe for subsequent implementation in the European market has a number of advantages and is more beneficial in terms of environmental and economic effects for the region. First, from an economic point of view, this leads to an increase in the volume of attracted investments, a decrease in operating costs for international logistics, the creation of new jobs and qualifications for the population. In addition, it is important to be able to actively implement circular business models that will reuse lithium-ion phone batteries, which will lead to a decrease in the need for cobalt as a raw material, as well as lead to an increase in the level of recycling of e-waste and the circularity of the European economy. Also, such investment projects open up great opportunities for manufacturers from a marketing point of view, creating bonuses for a positive image and preferences for a “local green producer”.