Evaluating sustainable development goals through market capitalisation: where we are half way and future research ahead

The study shows the situation of the 2030 Agenda halfway between 2015 and 2030. The empirical study aims to determine which SDGs are positively correlated with market capitalisation of publicly listed companies. Through a multiple linear regression between the 17 SDGs and market capitalisation in 26 developed and 48 emerging countries, the study finds that, for the most part, SDGs are inversely correlated with the market capitalisation of the countries studied. Therefore, companies would tend to undertake initiatives only associated with those SDGs that are positively correlated (2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12 and 17) with market capitalisation. This worrying inconsistency reflects a merely transactional implementation of initiatives, which becomes more acute depending on the type of country (developed or emerging). Seven potential factors are proposed as an explanation based on the rigorous literature review, and four relevant fields of future research are opened as a result of the study.