The three pillars of sustainability trends: A bibliometric analysis

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2024-1295

Keywords:

sustainability, bibliometric analysis, environmental, social and economic dimensions, VOSviewer

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this article is to identify the progress made in sustainability and its three pillars, environmental, social and economic, in order to extract the core aspects and contribute to economic growth, social progress and the promotion of environmental sustainability. Methodology: A bibliometric analysis was carried out on the sample of 4.166 articles retrieved from the Scopus database using VOSviewer, a software tool commonly used in bibliometric studies and focusing on the main dimensions of sustainability: environmental, social and, economic. This paper presents the theoretical aspects of the study of journals, researchers, or individual publications, keywords, institutions based on citation, bibliographic coupling, co-citation. Results and discussions: The results suggest that sustainability measurement is an emerging area of research. Influential categories are social sciences, environmental sciences, and business, management, and accounting. Prominent authors such as Scholtens, Zaman, and Berman contribute to the field. Five distinct clusters have been identified: “sustainable development”, “sustainability”, “economics”, “economic analysis”, “decision support systems”. The top keywords in the social cluster (“economics and social effects”), the economic cluster(“economics”, “commerce”, “economic development”, “financial system”, “financial sustainability”, “environmental economics”), and the newest but strongest environmental cluster (“climate change”, “environmental protection”, “environmental management”). Conclusions: It also presents the expectations and challenges of sustainability, allowing trends to be identified and assessed. Consequently, this research will support the lines of research with more impact ton mapping in sustainability research.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Paola Hermosa Del Vasto, University of Granada

D. in Economics and Business Administration from the Complutense University of Madrid. Currently, she is Assistant Professor at the Department of Business Organization I of the University of Granada. She has taught in Masters at national level. She has published in several national journals and has participated in international conferences. Since 2020 she is part of an interuniversity research group at national level, Research in Accounting and Economics for Sustainable Development in Emerging Economies (READEES) and since 2023 in the group Advanced Research in Business Management (SEJ478).

References

Aguinis, H., & Glavas, A. (2012). What we know and don't know about corporate social responsability: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 38(4), 932-968. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311436079 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311436079

Amar, S. M., Hermosa, P., & Parra, J. M. F. (2021). Analysis of entrepreneurship, sustainability and tourism: a bibliometric study. Tourism: new trends and challenges in a post-Covid scenario. In J. Marmolejo, S. Moral, & M. Solano (Eds.), Turismo: Nuevas tendencias y desafíos antes un escenario postCovid. congreso internacional de turismo (pp. 9-23). Dykinson.

Amar, S., Hermosa, P., & Ballesta, G. (2023). The role of political institutions in tourism development through entrepreneurship. Current legal framework and bibliometric analysis. Tourism and Cultural Heritage Journal Pasos, 21(3), 461-472. https://doi.org/10.25145/j.pasos.2023.21.031 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25145/j.pasos.2023.21.031

Bolt, K., Hamilton, K. E., Lange, G.-M., Markandya, A., Ordoubadi, M. S., Pedroso-Galinato, S., Ruta, G., Silva, P., & Tajibaeva, L. (2005). Where is the wealth of nations: measuring capital for the 21st century. World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/287171468323724180/Where-is-the-wealth-of-nations-measuring-capital-for-the-21st-century

Brown, B., Hanson, M., Liverman, D., & Merideth, R. (1987). Global sustainability: Toward definition. Environmental Management, 11(6), 713-719. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/BF01867238.pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01867238

Butlin, J. (1989). Our common future. By World commission on environment and development. Journal of International Development.

Circular economy action plan. (2023). https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en

Dillard, J., Dujon, V., & King, M. C. (Eds.). (2008). Understanding the social dimension of sustainability. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203892978

Ehrenfeld, D. (1976). The conservation of non-resources. American Scientist, 64, 648-656.

García-Sánchez, I. M., Aibar-Guzmán, B., & Aibar-Guzmán, C. (2021). What sustainability assurance services do institutional investors demand and what value do they give them? Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 13, 152-194. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-06-2020-0199 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-06-2020-0199

Gardazi, S. S. N., Hassan, A. F. S., & Bello, M. S. (2023). A Bibliometric Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Performance: Current Status, Development and Future Trends. International Journal of Professional Business Review, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.26668/businessreview/2023.v8i3.367 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26668/businessreview/2023.v8i3.367

Gilbert, R. (1996). Making cities work. The Role of Local Authorities in the Urban Environment. Routledge.

Hahn, R., & Kühnen, M. (2013). Determinants of sustainability reporting: A review of results, trends, theory, and opportunities in an expanding field of research. Journal of Cleaner Production, 59, 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.07.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.07.005

Hamdan, F.A., Lara-Sánchez, A. J., & Arufe-Giráldez, V. (2023). Critical thinking in environmental education through digital games among students. Environment and Social Psychology, 8(2). 10.54517/esp.v8i2.1725 DOI: https://doi.org/10.54517/esp.v8i2.1725

Harzing, A., & Alakangas, S. (2016). Google Scholar, Scopus and the Web of Science: A longitudinal and cross-disciplinary comparison. Scientometrics, 106, 787-804. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1798-9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1798-9

Homrich, A. S., Galvão, G., Abadia, L. G., & Carvalho, M. M. (2017). Circular economy umbrella: Trends and gaps on integrating pathways. Journal of Cleaner Production, 175, 525-543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.11.064 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.11.064

IUCN, UNEP, & WWF (1980). World Conservation Strategy, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Gland. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.1980.9.en

Lievrouw, L. (1989). The invisible college reconsidered: Bibliometrics and the development of scientific communication theory. Communication Research, 16(5), 615-628. 10.1177/009365089016005004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/009365089016005004

Maslow, A. (1970). Motivation and personality (2nd ed.). Harper and Row.

Mesenguer-Sánchez, V., Gálvez-Sánchez, F., & Molina-Moreno, V. (2021). Corporate social responsability and sustainability. A bibliometric analysis of their interrelations. Sustainability, 13(4), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041636 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041636

Moldan, B., Janoušková, S., & Hák, T. (2012). How to understand and measure environmental sustainability: Indicators and targets. Ecological indicators, 17, 4-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.04.033 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.04.033

Ogutu, H., El Archi, Y., & Dénes Dávid, L. (2023). Current trends in sustainable organization management: A bibliometric analysis. Oeconomia Copernicana, 14(1), 11-45. https://doi.org/10.24136/oc.2023.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.24136/oc.2023.001

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2001). OECD Environmental Strategy for the first decade of the 21st century. OECD.

Polese, M., & Streen, R. (2000). The Social Sustainability of Cities: Diversity and the Management of Change. University of Toronto Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442682399

PRISMA. (2020). PRISMA 2020 Statement. http://www.prisma-statement.org/

Shearman, R. (1990). The meaning of ethics of sustainability. Environmental Management, 14(1), 1-8. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/BF02394014.pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02394014

Sutton, P. (1999). Sustainability. Greener Management International Journal, 23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.9774/GLEAF.3062.1999.wi.00005

Sutton, P. A. (2004). Perspective on environmental sustainability? A paper for the victorian commissioner for environmental sustainability. http://www.green-innovations.asn.au/A-perspective-on-environmental-sustainability.pdf.

Tseng, M. L., Chang, C. H., Lin, C. W. R., Wu, K. J., Chen, Q., Xia, L., & Xue, B. (2020). Future trends and guidance for the triple bottom line and sustainability: A data driven bibliometric analysis. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27, 33543-33567. 10.1007/s11356-020-09284-0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09284-0

Van Eck, N., & Waltman, L. (2010). Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics, 523-538. doi:10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3

Vasto del Vasto, P. M. H., & Castro, M. L. A. (2024). Artificial intelligence (ai) in sustainable tourism: Bibliometric analysis. Cuadernos de Turismo, 53, 157-185. https://doi.org/10.6018/turismo.616431 DOI: https://doi.org/10.6018/turismo.616431

Wilderness Society. (1986). Conserving biological diversity in our national forest. Wilderness Society.

Ye, N., Kueh, T. B., Hou, L., Liu, Y., & Yu, H. (2020). A bibliometric analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility in sustainable development. Journal of Cleaner Production, 272, 122679. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122679

Zupic, I., & Cater, T. (2015). Bibliometric methods in management and organization. Organizacional Research Methods, 18(3), 429-472. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428114562629 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428114562629

Downloads

Published

2024-10-16

How to Cite

Hermosa Del Vasto, P. (2024). The three pillars of sustainability trends: A bibliometric analysis. European Public & Social Innovation Review, 9, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2024-1295

Issue

Section

INNOVATING IN THE REDEFINITION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMAN BEINGS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT