The financial performance of listed companies in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Abstract

Socially responsible companies whose values are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) contribute to creating wealth and long-term economic and social value. This alignment leads to a competitive advantage based on the triple bottom line that enhances financial performance. In this paper, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is used to identify the configurations of conditions that lead to high or low financial performance (return on equity) for a sample of companies in the IBEX 35. Firms should adopt business models that embrace the SDGs because sustainability-based models can ensure not only the present but also the future of generations to come.

Keywords:

• Financial performance
• corporate social responsibility (CSR)
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
• fuzzy-set

JEL CLASSIFICATIONS:

• L25
• M14
• Q56

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Chair ‘Entrepreneurship: Being student to entrepreneur’-Grupo Maicerías Españolas-Arroz DACSA-Universitat of València.