The objective of the present research is to propose a European-wide Sustainable Development Indicator (SDI) at the firm level which would provide investors in private and public sector projects with a screening tool for their investment choices indicating whether the outcomes of the strategies pursued by the underlying firms are in line with the goals of sustainable development. The characterization of corporate performance measures as SD compliant recognizes the shift in investors’ attitudes towards more ethical investment projects and at the same time identifies and rewards those private and public corporate agents who choose to align their strategies with what consumers and society at large perceive as sustainable and welfare-enhancing. Our proposed methodology consists of the following tasks: (i) identify the set of objectives making up the desired development set in a way that reflects the policy aspects involved in the productive strategies adopted by the underlying firms and robust at the same time reflecting the potential heterogeneity of applications (ii) propose a number of flexible design mechanisms (iii) identify the potential inefficiencies of the associated welfares measures. In this way, the proposed SDI should provide an adequate set of eligibility criteria which potential firms should satisfy in order to attain a higher rating. Our attempt requires valid empirical data which we hope to finance with the support of the present funding request.
Funded by: European Commission – NSRF
Call: Invitation to ESDPE34 “Supporting researchers with an emphasis on young researchers”, grant agreement No 5006060
Budget: € 62,650.00