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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (19 January 2025) | Viewed by 38273

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Dr. Giedrė Lapinskienė

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Guest Editor

1. Faculty of Business Management, Department of Business Technologies and Entrepreneurship, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Vilnius Tech), LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
2. Faculty of Economics, University of Applied Science, Studentų g. 39, 08106 Vilnius, Lithuania
Interests: sustainable development; green economy; sustainable business
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Dainora Gedvilaitė

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Guest Editor

1. Faculty of Transport Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH), Sauletekio al. 11, 10233 Vilnius, Lithuania
2. Faculty of Economics, University of Applied Science, Studentų g. 39, 08106 Vilnius, Lithuania
Interests: sustainable development; cycling economy; multi criteria methods

Prof. Dr. Tadas Gudaitis

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Guest Editor

1. Business School, Vilnius University, Universiteto g. 3, 01513 Vilnius, Lithuania 2. Faculty of Economics, University of Applied Science, Studentų g. 39, 08106 Vilnius, Lithuania
Interests: sustainability; sustainability literacy; financial literacy; pension funds; pension reforms

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The concept of sustainable development has been used for more than 40 years. The term Sustainable Economic Development refers to economic development aimed at balancing economic growth with environmental and social sustainability. Since the 1970s, when the Club of Rome put forth the theory of “The Limits to Growth”, the environmental quality has been considered as a new prerequisite for economic growth. This has given rise to new concepts such as the green economy, digital modernization, environmental conservation, renewable resources, and the fight against climate change as the mandatory prerequisites for economic development.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to collect papers that will improve the understanding of the evolution of sustainable economic development, with particular emphasis on the environmental aspect. The topics are in line with the focus of the journal of Sustainability.

There are many perspectives to consider when writing about sustainable economic development. Many authors have analyzed the relationship between environmental or social variables and various economic indicators such as GDP, income per capita, etc. Others have focused on the processes that enable a sustainable economic development, for example, sharing economy or intergovernmental programs, while others have explored the transformation of specific industries and the development of instruments such as green finance.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Green economy;
Green transition of various industries;
Cycling economy;
Sharing economy;
Models covering environmental, social, and SED indicators;
Business strategies leading to SED;
Trends in ESG reporting.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Giedrė Lapinskienė
Dr. Dainora Gedvilaitė
Prof. Dr. Tadas Gudaitis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainable economic development
green economy
ESG
green finance
sustainability reporting
sustainable strategies

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Published Papers (11 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

5 pages, 142 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Theory and Practice of Sustainable Economic Development

by Giedrė Lapinskienė

Sustainability 2025, 17(10), 4670; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17104670 - 20 May 2025

Viewed by 528

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development has been in use for more than 40 years [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theory and Practice of Sustainable Economic Development)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

22 pages, 1877 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Two-Way Causality Between Economic Growth and Environmental Quality: Scale in the New Capital of Indonesia

by Nurjanana Nurjanana, Dio Caisar Darma, Suparjo Suparjo, Andriawan Kustiawan and Wasono Wasono

Sustainability 2025, 17(4), 1656; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041656 - 17 Feb 2025

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1300

Abstract

The world is still facing an old challenge, e.g., environmental change. In many nations, including developing countries such as Indonesia, spurring economic growth is considered the best way to overcome many things. Indonesia is moving the center of the Indonesian Capital City (IKN). By opening up new space through the consideration of equitable economic development toward a green environment, this study is designed to investigate the impact of economic growth on environmental quality and vice versa. The object of analysis is directed at Penajam Paser Utara (PPU) as the new IKN center and four other IKN buffer areas in East Kalimantan, including (1) Paser, (2) Balikpapan, (3) Samarinda, and (4) Kutai Kartanegara. This study uses panel data regression and linear trends. The data elaborated is economic growth based on Regional Domestic Product (GRDP), which is proxied, and environmental quality, as reflected by the Environmental Quality Index (IKLH), during the 2017–2023 period. Referring to the method implemented, there is significant positive causality between the two in the selected IKN areas. Through the linear trend model, it is found that there is a tendency for changes in the data analyzed based on constant time. This study can be an instrument for practical policy making and a breakthrough in the development of a scientific discipline that studies the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality in two directions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theory and Practice of Sustainable Economic Development)

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19 pages, 1578 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Variability of the Level of Budget Expenditures on Social Insurance of Farmers in the Agricultural Policy of Poland After Accession to the European Union

by Andrzej Czyżewski, Ryszard Kata and Anna Matuszczak

Sustainability 2025, 17(3), 947; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17030947 - 24 Jan 2025

Viewed by 879

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to examine the level and variability of budgetary expenditures directed to the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (ASIF) in Poland in the form of subsidies to the Farmers’ Pension Fund in the period 2004–2024, i.e., after Poland’s accession to the European Union (EU). The aim of the study was also to determine the share of subsidies to the farmers’ social insurance fund in the total expenditures of the Polish agricultural budget, as well as the relationship of ASIF expenditures to state budget expenditures and GDP dynamics. The authors attempted to estimate the trend function for these time series and the degree of fit of the equations describing them. The formation of the nominal and real level of budget expenditures on the ASIF in 2004–2024 was evaluated. It was assumed that spending on the ASIF is an element of agricultural policy, realising its redistributive and social objectives, but indirectly also pro-development objectives by supporting generational change in agriculture. The research showed that the real level of spending on ASIF declined during Poland’s EU membership, as did the share of this spending in the total agricultural budget. The subsidy to the social security system also did not follow the changes in GDP and state budget expenditure proportionally, showing much less dynamism over the period studied. This means that budget support for farmers’ social security is losing its importance as an instrument of agricultural policy. It has been shown that the economic and social components of agricultural expenditure have not grown in harmony. The changes in the level of spending on the ASIF in the period 2004–2024 were also analysed in relation to demographic changes, i.e., the number of farmers insured in the ASIF and recipients of agricultural pensions. It has been shown that, despite a significant decrease in the number of farmers receiving pensions from the ASIF, there remains a large disparity between the average pension benefits of farmers and those of the general social insurance system (Social Insurance Institution—SII). The reduction in this disparity is not served by a real reduction in subsidies to the ASIF. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theory and Practice of Sustainable Economic Development)

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17 pages, 682 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainability Reporting in the University Context—A Review and Analysis of the Literature

by Juan Abello-Romero, Claudio Mancilla, Katherine Restrepo, Walter Sáez, Ivette Durán-Seguel and Francisco Ganga-Contreras

Sustainability 2024, 16(24), 10888; https://doi.org/10.3390/su162410888 - 12 Dec 2024

Viewed by 2267

Abstract

This paper aims to determine the key themes addressed in sustainability reporting in higher education institutions (HEIs), focusing on papers indexed in the Scopus database until October 2024. The number of papers selected was fewer than the number of articles addressing sustainability reporting in corporate settings. We present the findings of this search by providing some metrics and an analysis of the selected texts through the construction of ten categories and 26 subcategories. Our study differs from previous works by providing an analysis of the content of some of the reviewed articles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theory and Practice of Sustainable Economic Development)

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17 pages, 1004 KiB

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The Efficiency of Financing Environmental Protection Measures in the Context of Ukraine’s Future Membership in the EU

by Oleksandr Labenko, Andrjus Sadauskis and Valeriia Lymar

Sustainability 2024, 16(14), 6090; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16146090 - 17 Jul 2024

Viewed by 1298

Abstract

In recent decades, humanity has had a significant negative impact on the environment. This problem can be solved only by establishing a rational environmental management policy and ensuring an effective financial policy in the context of balancing emissions and expenditures on environmental protection measures. The purpose of this article is to analyze the efficiency of financing environmental protection measures by determining the dependence of pollutant emissions on environmental protection expenditures in Ukraine and the European Union. The following methods were used for the study: analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison, specification, and statistical and graphical methods. The statistical information was systematized on the basis of open data from the Open Budget web portal, the State Statistics Service, and Eurostat. This study identified the dynamics of revenues from environmental taxes in Ukraine; taxes on air emissions prevail. Most of the expenditures are made from the state budget. According to the functional classification, environmental expenditures are mainly aimed at preventing and eliminating environmental pollution. The dynamics of capital investments in environmental protection were also studied. To assess the effectiveness of the state policy in the field of environmental protection, we analyzed the dependence of pollutant emissions in Ukraine, Poland, and Romania on the amount of environmental expenditures and investments in this area and revenues from environmental tax. In Ukraine, the amount of pollutants released into the atmosphere depends mostly on investments in this area; in Poland—on revenues from environmental taxes; and in Romania—on expenditures on environmental protection. It has been established that the obtained models are adequate and can be used to build future forecasts of pollutant emissions. Directions for the development of financial and environmental policy are proposed. Post-war restoration of the environmental situation should be carried out on the basis of sustainable development, focusing on the European Green Deal A triple-task approach should be implemented, including environmental restoration, the minimization of negative climate change and balanced use of resources, and the expansion of powers of the relevant ministry with a focus on the strategic goals of the state policy. It is necessary to develop methodological recommendations according to international standards to assess the real state of the environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theory and Practice of Sustainable Economic Development)

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28 pages, 420 KiB

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Green Human Resource Management: Practices, Benefits, and Constraints—Evidence from the Portuguese Context

by Joana Patrícia Coelho, Ana Isabel Couto and Ana Teresa Ferreira-Oliveira

Sustainability 2024, 16(13), 5478; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135478 - 27 Jun 2024

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4664

Abstract

In recent decades, the issue of environmental sustainability has become increasingly important worldwide and there is growing pressure from stakeholders for companies to transform themselves in order to mitigate their environmental impacts. Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) plays an important role in promoting a corporate culture of environmental responsibility, ensuring the effectiveness of companies’ environmental strategy through its direct role with employees. In response to the lack of studies on GHRM and its implementation in the Portuguese business context, this study aims to map the GHRM practices implemented by companies operating in Portugal and to identify the perceived benefits, constraints, and challenges in implementing these practices. A total of 15 semi-structured interviews with human resource managers and environment-related management professionals of companies selected from an Environmental Management Systems—ISO 14001 database were conducted. The results show that organizations in Portugal implement environmental practices that fall within the scope of GHRM. The practices identified also range across transversal categories such as digital, mobility, products and waste management, infrastructure, performance, production, and corporate events. However, a holistic approach is needed and GHRM should be built under a multidimensional and well-planned system. This study argues that perceived benefits are constrained by the specific characteristics of the Portuguese business context which results in obstacles for the implementation and success of GHRM practices. The implications of the results for the organizations are discussed and suggestions are put forward. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theory and Practice of Sustainable Economic Development)

14 pages, 1898 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on Green Development Decision Making of Logistics Enterprises Based on Three-Party Game

by Chan He and Xu Xu

Sustainability 2024, 16(7), 2822; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16072822 - 28 Mar 2024

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2907

Abstract

The concept of green logistics entails minimizing the ecological impact of logistical resources, enhancing the environmental quality within the logistics sector, and optimizing resource utilization to foster sustainable development in social economic production and consumption. Promoting green transportation is not only a positive reflection of the concepts of environmental protection and green development, but also an effective means for traditional logistics enterprises to reduce operating costs, win competitive advantages, and achieve transformation and upgrading. This paper takes logistics enterprises facing green transformation and development decisions as the research object, and puts forward an evolutionary game model between logistics companies, government, and community. The evolution path of logistics enterprises’ green transformation development strategy choice under different conditions is analyzed in detail. The results show that, under the conditions of the government’s incentive and supervision and the public’s choice of green consumption, logistics enterprises are more inclined to green transformation development. Different levels of public choice and different levels of government regulation also make different corporate strategy choices. Therefore, it is suggested that the government provide policy, technical channels, funds, and other support for logistics companies promoting green logistics, and actively publicize the concept of green consumption in the market. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theory and Practice of Sustainable Economic Development)

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26 pages, 856 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does Firm Size Matter for ESG Risk? Cross-Sectional Evidence from the Banking Industry

by Piotr M. Bolibok

Sustainability 2024, 16(2), 679; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16020679 - 12 Jan 2024

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6693

Abstract

The ambiguous evidence regarding the linkages between firm size and ESG risk in the relevant literature justifies the need for their further scientific investigation. A particularly interesting context for this task is offered by the banking industry, where financial institutions face both strong incentives to expand the scale of their activities and high reputational risk sensitivity. Given the above, this paper aims to systematize and enhance the theoretical underpinnings of the relationship between firm size and ESG risk in banks, highlighting its likely non-linear character, and to investigate it empirically in the cross-section of the international banking industry. This research employs uni- and multivariate, and linear and non-linear regression analyses applied to a sample of 668 banks that were assigned the Morningstar Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating for the year 2021. The results demonstrate that, although, on average, size seems to be associated negatively with ESG risk in the cross-section, the relationship is in fact non-linear and follows a U-shaped pattern. The findings are robust regarding the impact of both country-specific contextual factors and outliers. This study emphasizes the importance of diseconomies of scale in ESG risk management, thus offering some important lessons and recommendations for bank executives and equity investors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theory and Practice of Sustainable Economic Development)

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15 pages, 1311 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring Generation Z’s Investment Patterns and Attitudes towards Greenness

by Inga Pašiušienė, Askoldas Podviezko, Daiva Malakaitė, Laura Žarskienė, Aušra Liučvaitienė and Rita Martišienė

Sustainability 2024, 16(1), 352; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16010352 - 30 Dec 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 9849

Abstract

Financial technology is quickly developing, making the financial industry more accessible and encouraging individual investor engagement in the investing process. Generation Z, characterised by a high level of digital literacy, curiosity, and receptivity to innovation, tends to very quickly make decisions and rapidly consume. Since 2007, there has been an increase in the number of articles analysing investor behaviour, drawing on insights from financial and psychological theories. The purpose of this exploratory study is to categorise the behaviour of students surveyed by the type of their investments, while at the same time assessing their willingness to choose green investments. The survey used in the analysis not only aims at collecting data but also educates students on the importance of critical self-awareness and the identification of their emotions to make rational, responsible investment decisions and, at the same time, to form a responsible investor who understands that investing is not only a way to earn a return but also can make a positive impact on the world when green investments are chosen. This study shows that studying students tend to be very rational and interested in contributing to greening the world; however, they are still hesitant to put their theoretical skills into practise and are more likely to provide theoretical support for green investments rather than actually invest. Respondents are grouped according to their potential investment behaviour. The proportions of groups are assessed using statistical inference with a precision of 95% that allowed to propose the method of deriving confidence intervals for each group estimation and, thus, making estimates both reliable and available as statistical estimations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theory and Practice of Sustainable Economic Development)

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17 pages, 2088 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Assessment of Green Business Environments Using the Environmental–Economic Index: The Case of China

by Cheng-Wen Lee, Chin-Chuan Wang, Hui-Hsin Hsu and Peiyi Kong

Sustainability 2023, 15(23), 16419; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316419 - 29 Nov 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1746

Abstract

The quality of a country’s business environment speaks volumes about its government’s capacity and competitiveness. Unfortunately, the current system only evaluates countries and cities, overlooking the business environments of individual provinces. To address this issue, this study utilizes a green and sustainable development approach to evaluate the business environments of 30 provinces/municipalities in China. By incorporating ecological and environmental protection and sustainable development indicators, a novel green business environment index is constructed and analyzed to determine its impact on macroeconomic sustainable development and micro-enterprise operation. Taking into account the business environment index established by the World Bank and other organizations, this evaluation system adds ecological and environmental indicators specific to each province/municipality in China from the year 2011 to 2020. The result is a provincial green business environment evaluation index system consisting of 5 primary indicators and 30 secondary indicators. Principal component analysis (PCA) is then applied to rank the green business environment for each province/municipality. Furthermore, the overall green business environment of the Eastern region is superior to that of the Central and Western regions, highlighting the uneven development of the business environment in China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theory and Practice of Sustainable Economic Development)

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16 pages, 327 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Green Banking Performance

by Giedrė Lapinskienė and Irena Danilevičienė

Sustainability 2023, 15(20), 14769; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152014769 - 11 Oct 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4255

Abstract

Internal and external pressures are pushing the financial system towards an increasingly environmentally responsible orientation. The damaging practices of green-washing necessitate the search for new ways of monitoring. The question then arises, how can one measure the actual degree of greenness of a banking industry? This study aims to create a new methodology framework to measure green performance in the banking industry using multi-criteria methods. We offer a theoretical contribution. First, a set of criteria was identified at the theoretical level. Second, the criteria were evaluated by practitioners and aggregated using the ‘TOPSIS’ method. This index may constitute a basis for ranking banks. The results showed that the most important factors to be considered when evaluating the performance of green banking are the greenness of the customers, the development of innovations leading to a green economy, the availability of green financial products and services, and the promotion of green education. These results lead to the conclusion that both banks and clients should become “greener” and utilize more green innovations and financial products/services. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theory and Practice of Sustainable Economic Development)

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