The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set a global roadmap for reducing inequality, improving institutions, and enhancing economic growth while tackling climate change. This brings both opportunities and challenges for firms worldwide, ranging from technological development and reorganization of value chains in response to the green energy transition to the implementation of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG). This conference will take a closer look at firm-level sustainable behavior, its drivers, costs, and benefits. Following the SDGs, we focus on different aspects of sustainability, including but not limited to institutional frameworks, inequality, and the environment. Our aim is to generate a better understanding of the role of sustainability in firm behavior and performance. We use a broader definition of „firms“ and their performance that includes looking at profits, employment, corporate social responsibility, and ethics issues while focusing on firms of all sizes from individual entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to multinational corporations.

The conference topics include (but are not limited to) the following key questions:

• Firm-level factors shaping the sustainable and energy-efficient behavior
• The effects of sustainability on firm profitability, employment, and overall performance
• Issues of corporate social responsibility
• Governance and management of firms’ sustainable behavior in different industries
• Non-financial reporting of companies and the related national and global standards
• Firm-level perspectives on financing energy transition and green growth
• The role of social, ethical, and institutional factors in firms’ sustainable behavior

We welcome applications, regardless of discipline, that address these or related topics using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. Comparative perspectives between Europe and the Americas are particularly welcome.

Organizers

• Olga Popova, IOS (Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies)
• Thomas Steger, Universität Regensburg

The conference language is English. There is no conference fee.
Accommodation in Regensburg for one author of each accepted paper will be provided by the organizers. Early career researchers and presenters with a lack of travel support from their own institution are also welcome to enquire about contributions towards travel costs.

Deadline for extended abstract submission: 01 May 2023.
Notification of acceptance: 01 June 2023.
Deadline for submission of full papers: 01 November 2023.
Conference homepage.
The complete CfP.