Contribution of Argentinian B Corporations to Sustainable Development Goals: Empirical Analysis Based on Their Practices and Solutions to Socioenvironmental Problems

Cecilia Ficco (), Paola Bersía, Cecilia Bressan and Edila Eudemia Herrera-Rodríguez
Additional contact information
Cecilia Ficco: Faculty of Economic Sciences, National University of Río Cuarto (UNRC), Río Cuarto 5800, Argentina
Paola Bersía: Faculty of Economic Sciences, National University of Río Cuarto (UNRC), Río Cuarto 5800, Argentina
Cecilia Bressan: Faculty of Economic Sciences, National University of Río Cuarto (UNRC), Río Cuarto 5800, Argentina
Edila Eudemia Herrera-Rodríguez: Regional University Centre of Los Santos, Universidad de Panamá—UP (University of Panama), Panama City 06001, Panama

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: This study aims at examining how B Corporations advance Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their practices by analyzing the socioenvironmental problems they address and the solutions they provide to those problems. All Argentinian B Corporations, certified by early 2023 (135 companies), were investigated using a mixed approach, combining social network analysis with textual data analysis. The results showed that the environmental practices are primarily linked to waste, water, energy and chemical management, as well as product innovation. In turn, the social practices address the training, education, and well-being of employees and other stakeholders, diversity, equity and inclusion management, and the creation of an inclusive and fair environment, integrating local communities. Thus, in the flow of their sustainability practices, Argentinian B Corporations contribute to SDGs 8, 12, 13, 9, 6, 7, 5, 10, 11, 4, and 17, in line with the SDGs declared by these companies. Our findings contribute to the theoretical knowledge on the B Corp movement and have practical implications by providing input to improve the management of B Corporations and to guide public policies encouraging these companies to advance sustainable development dimensions lacking attention.

Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals; B Corporations; sustainable practices; social problems; environmental problems; triple bottom line theory; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/1/6/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/1/6/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2023:i:1:p:6-:d:1302780

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().