Determinant Factors of SDG Disclosure in the University Context

Abstract

Universities are expected to have a leading role in the advancement, promotion, and achievement of the 2030 UN Agenda, embedding the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across their four dimensions (teaching, research, campus operations and governance, and community outreach) and in their reporting cycles from a whole-institution perspective. In this landscape, academics and practitioners have started to assess universities’ commitment toward the global goals. Nonetheless, research on university SDG disclosure is still in its infancy, being limited to descriptive studies, single case studies, or national contexts. This paper aims to analyse SDG disclosure in the university context from a cross-country perspective. Specifically, it investigates the internal and external factors affecting the universities’ disclosure choices through an OLS regression technique based on multiple and complementary theoretical frameworks (i.e., legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory, and institutional theory). Starting from the Times Higher Education (THE) world university ranking, the sample comprises 844 universities in 81 countries observed over the course of 2021. The empirical findings show a significant and positive impact of the institutional macro-context, university size, age, and diversity on SDG disclosure. The results aim to contribute to the debate by the academic community and policy makers on the universities’ commitment to fostering the awareness, collaboration, measurement, and achievement of SDGs.