IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jmathe/v9y2021i11p1308-d570335.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Sustainability Is Defined: An Analysis of 100 Theoretical Approximations

Author

Listed:
  • Arturo Luque González

    (Facultad de Ciencias Humanísticas y Sociales, Universidad Técnica de Manabí, Ave. José María Urbina and Che Guevara, Portoviejo 130105, Ecuador
    Escuela de Administración-Grupo de Investigación en Dirección y Gerencia, Universidad del Rosario, Calle 12C, 6-25, Bogotá 111711, Colombia)

  • Jesús Ángel Coronado Martín

    (Facultad de Educación, Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Técnica del Norte, Av. 17 de julio 5-21 y Gral, José María Cordova, Ibarra 100105, Ecuador)

  • Ana Cecilia Vaca-Tapia

    (Facultad de Derecho y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad UTE, Rumipamba y Bourgeois, Quito 170147, Ecuador)

  • Francklin Rivas

    (Departamento de Informática, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Av. España 1680, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile)

Abstract

Sustainability processes are imperfect, hence there is a need to analyze their construction, evolution and deployment. To this end, a sample of one hundred sustainability constructs was taken, together with their conceptual approaches, in order to gauge their impact and to ascertain the dimensions to which they belong. A frequency count and categorization were carried out using Google, which saturated in seven dimensions: economic, social, environmental, legal, political, ethical and cultural. A higher-order association of these hierarchies was then proposed, establishing a triad model that indicated only the most representative combinations of dimensions resulting from the extraction of the most significant definitions. From these definitions and in accordance with their frequency of use in Google, it is inferred that the current concept of sustainability is based on the economic-social-ethical category. This highlights the distance between what, a priori, seems to implicitly allow any definition of sustainability and the existing reality.

Suggested Citation

  • Arturo Luque González & Jesús Ángel Coronado Martín & Ana Cecilia Vaca-Tapia & Francklin Rivas, 2021. "How Sustainability Is Defined: An Analysis of 100 Theoretical Approximations," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-20, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jmathe:v:9:y:2021:i:11:p:1308-:d:570335
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/11/1308/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/11/1308/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arturo Luque & Adoración Guamán, 2021. "Transnational textile outsourcing: exceptional or standard?," International Journal of Business and Globalisation, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 27(2), pages 143-170.
    2. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    3. Ayres, Robert U., 1996. "Statistical measures of unsustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 239-255, March.
    4. Frederic Marimon & María del Mar Alonso-Almeida & Frederic Marimon, 2015. "Difusión de las memorias de sostenibilidad en Latinoamérica: análisis territorial y sectorial," Estudios Gerenciales, Universidad Icesi, April.
    5. repec:col:000129:012769 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Daly, Herman E., 1990. "Toward some operational principles of sustainable development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 1-6, April.
    7. Rodríguez-Ariza, Lázaro & Frías Aceituno, José V. & García Rubio, Raquel, 2014. "El consejo de administración y las memorias de sostenibilidad," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 5-16.
    8. Mokate, Karen Marie, 2001. "Eficacia, eficiencia, equidad y sostenibilidad: ¿Qué queremos decir?," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 1193, Inter-American Development Bank.
    9. Juan Antonio Plasencia Soler & Fernando Marrero Delgado & Anna María Bajo Sanjuán & Miriam Nicado García, 2018. "Modelos para evaluar la sostenibilidad de las organizaciones," Estudios Gerenciales, Universidad Icesi, vol. 34(146), pages 63-73, February.
    10. Andrés López Astudillo, 1998. "La ruta de la sostenibilidad," Estudios Gerenciales, Universidad Icesi, September.
    11. Nuttaneeya Torugsa & Wayne O’Donohue & Rob Hecker, 2013. "Proactive CSR: An Empirical Analysis of the Role of its Economic, Social and Environmental Dimensions on the Association between Capabilities and Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(2), pages 383-402, June.
    12. Arturo Luque & Noelia Herrero‐García, 2019. "How corporate social (ir)responsibility in the textile sector is defined, and its impact on ethical sustainability: An analysis of 133 concepts," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1285-1306, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dana Khalid Amro & Ahmad Sukkar & Moohammed Wasim Yahia & Mohammad Khaleel Abukeshek, 2023. "Evaluating the Cultural Sustainability of the Adaptive Reuse of Al-Nabulsi Traditional House into a Cultural Center in Irbid, Jordan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-30, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Toman, Michael & Pezzey, John C., 2002. "The Economics of Sustainability: A Review of Journal Articles," RFF Working Paper Series dp-02-03, Resources for the Future.
    2. Gilbert Gillespie, 2010. "2009 AFHVS presidential address: the steering question: challenges to achieving food system sustainability," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 27(1), pages 3-12, March.
    3. Hoff, Jens V. & Rasmussen, Martin M.B. & Sørensen, Peter Birch, 2021. "Barriers and opportunities in developing and implementing a Green GDP," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    4. Ozgur Isil & Michael T. Hernke, 2017. "The Triple Bottom Line: A Critical Review from a Transdisciplinary Perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1235-1251, December.
    5. Dejana Zlatanović, 2015. "A Holistic Approach To Corporate Social Responsibility As A Prerequisite For Sustainable Development: Empirical Evidence," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 60(207), pages 69-94, September.
    6. V.Martinet & L. Doyen, 2003. "Sustainable management of an exhaustible resource:a viable control model," THEMA Working Papers 2003-36, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    7. Quentin Couix, 2019. "Natural resources in the theory of production: the Georgescu-Roegen/Daly versus Solow/Stiglitz controversy," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(6), pages 1341-1378, November.
    8. Odile Blanchard & Arnaud Buchs, 2014. "Teaching Sustainable Development Issues: An Assessment of the Learning Effectiveness of Gaming," Working Papers halshs-00946227, HAL.
    9. John Holmberg & Johan Larsson, 2018. "A Sustainability Lighthouse—Supporting Transition Leadership and Conversations on Desirable Futures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-25, October.
    10. Bastianoni, S. & Facchini, A. & Susani, L. & Tiezzi, E., 2007. "Emergy as a function of exergy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1158-1162.
    11. Gerbens-Leenes, P. W. & Moll, H. C. & Schoot Uiterkamp, A. J. M., 2003. "Design and development of a measuring method for environmental sustainability in food production systems," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 231-248, September.
    12. Damien Bazin & Emna Omri & Nouri Chtourou, 2015. "Solar Thermal Energy for Sustainable Development in Tunisia," Post-Print halshs-01070616, HAL.
    13. Buytaert, V. & Muys, B. & Devriendt, N. & Pelkmans, L. & Kretzschmar, J.G. & Samson, R., 2011. "Towards integrated sustainability assessment for energetic use of biomass: A state of the art evaluation of assessment tools," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(8), pages 3918-3933.
    14. Aryn Lisitza & Gregor Wolbring, 2016. "Sustainability within the Academic EcoHealth Literature: Existing Engagement and Future Prospects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-22, February.
    15. Günter Vornholz, 1994. "The sustainable development approach," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 29(4), pages 194-198, July.
    16. Kohn, Jorg, 1998. "Thinking in terms of system hierarchies and velocities. What makes development sustainable?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 173-187, August.
    17. Odile Blanchard & Arnaud Buchs, 2015. "Clarifying Sustainable Development Concepts Through Role playing," Post-Print hal-01103915, HAL.
    18. Fleischer, Tamás, 2005. "Fenntartható fejlődés - fenntartható közlekedés [Sustainable Development - Sustainable Transport]," MPRA Paper 62070, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. John C. V. Pezzey, 2004. "Sustainability Policy and Environmental Policy," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(2), pages 339-359, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jmathe:v:9:y:2021:i:11:p:1308-:d:570335. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.