People, Planet, and Profit: A Bibliometric Analysis of Triple Bottom Line Theory

Abstract

Scientific production on Triple Bottom Line Theory is, recently, attracting attention in the literature. A series of factors are related to this interest, among them: (i) the scarcity of productive resources; and, (ii) the need to optimize processes not only in economic terms, but especially in their environmental and social aspects. These factors have fostered the study of sustainability models. Therefore, the present study aims to conduct a bibliometric investigation into Triple Bottom Line Theory. To this end, an analysis of 1386 publications, published between 1999 and 2020, indexed in the Web of Science database, was developed. Additionally, the present article describes in detail the main contributors to the academic debate on this topic. Furthermore, it highlights the relevant areas of research at the present time. It was found that the search for models to assess environmental, economic and social performance is highly relevant today. It was also found that, among the main models used for this purpose, the class of Data Envelopment Analysis models stands out.