A Game-Theoretic Approach to Indian Government Schemes Promoting Circular Economy Systems

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-559-1_2How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Circular Economy; Game Theory; Indian Government Schemes; Indian Sustainability Policy; Stackelberg Game

Abstract

Purpose: Despite the widespread adoption of circular economy efforts around the world, game-theoretic literature has not sufficiently addressed the challenges, intergovernmental dynamics, and stakeholder trade-offs inherent in the circular revolution. This paper aims to fill a crucial research gap by applying the Stackelberg game framework to India’s unique policy context to provide a novel game-theoretic analysis of Indian government programs promoting circular economy models.

Method: Utilizing data from databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, and IEEE, and reports from McKinsey, Statista, and the Government of India, this study constructs a Stackelberg framework identifying the central government as the leader and state governments as followers to outline optimal policy design and implementation strategies on a multi-governance level. The methodology examines socioeconomic and environmental trade-offs of stringent and lenient circular economy mandates to inform balanced policy choices. By modelling the conflict between near-term cost minimization and potential ecological gains, the framework reveals tensions between central and local priorities.

Results: The framework revealed a subgame-perfect equilibrium with payoff of 53.32 in the passive-strict profile, and a socially optimum result in the active-strict profile with a cumulative payoff of 53.33, which highlights the difference between individually rational policy choices and a cooperative outcome that would maximize utility.

Conclusion: This improvement on the Stackelberg model provides a scalable paradigm for circular economy transitions in intricate regulatory environments by showing how careful coordination can lower enforcement costs and resistance. The study thereby advances literature on circular economy governance and establishes the groundwork for future research on multi-level policy design.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Navya Gupta
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/19
TI  - A Game-Theoretic Approach to Indian Government Schemes Promoting Circular Economy Systems
BT  - Proceedings of the Global Innovation and Technology Summit “AAROHAN 3.0”_HSS track (GITS-HSS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 3
EP  - 15
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-559-1_2
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-559-1_2
ID  - Gupta2026
ER  -