Corporate Sustainability Performance Measurement: Narrative Review of Literature on Dimensions of Corporate Sustainability Indices

Abstract

The concept of corporate sustainability has gained immense significance in the last few decades. Several indiceshave been developed to measure corporate sustainability performance (CSP) among different sectors of industryand corporate firms. These indices cover different aspects of sustainability practices, however, the concept ofcorporate sustainability performance has widened with the emergence of ESG, Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) and circular economy (CE) concept and these dimensions need to be included in an index of sustainabilityperformance. The aim of this study is to review different corporate sustainability indices (CSI) and analyze thedimensions of sustainability upon which they are based. This study also reviews the utilization of indices formeasuring the impact of corporate sustainability practices on firm’s financial performance (FFP). Acomprehensive search of literature was carried out to review different CSI and narrative review methodologywas utilized to assess the utility of the indices. Specific search strings were formulated and Dimensions databasewas used to extract bibliographic data. This study will enable researchers to find CSI dimensions that best suitstheir research objectives. The items of a particular dimension of sustainability have not been covered in thisstudy. This study will also provide the limitations of existing indices and provide future directions in developmentof integrated sustainability measurement indices.