IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jjrfmx/v18y2025i6p339-d1682662.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Sustainability Orientation Drive Financial Success in a Non-Ergodic World? A Systematic Literature Review

Author

Listed:
  • Edgars Sedovs

    (Department of Management, BA School of Business and Finance, Krisjana Valdemara 161, LV-1013 Riga, Latvia)

  • Tatjana Volkova

    (Department of Management, BA School of Business and Finance, Krisjana Valdemara 161, LV-1013 Riga, Latvia)

  • Iveta Ludviga

    (Business Department, RISEBA University of Applied Sciences, Meza 3, LV-1048 Riga, Latvia)

Abstract

In today’s environment of increased uncertainty, firms face new challenges in aligning sustainability orientation (SO) with financial performance (FP). In this non-ergodic world, past trends offer limited insight into the future due to economic instability, geopolitical conflicts, trade wars, environmental and social disasters, sustainability policy and commitment reversals, etc. To investigate this, we conducted a systematic literature review and topic modelling with a latent Dirichlet allocation of 117 English peer-reviewed articles in management, business, economics, and finance related to SO and FP *. These articles, obtained from Scopus and Web of Science, were open-access and had reached the final publication stage. By integrating resource-based, institutional, and stakeholder theories, we aim to identify the current understanding of the SO concept and the mechanisms linking it to FP. Our findings show that sustainability-oriented firms are better equipped to achieve financial success in a non-ergodic world. However, outcomes vary widely based on context and duration, with existing literature revealing positive and negative relationships or no impact. Topic modelling identified 17 themes, such as stakeholder engagement, business performance, sustainability-oriented innovation and corporate sustainability. We propose five theoretical propositions and forward-looking research directions based on these findings. As a result, our study contributes to the existing academic literature by providing an integrated resource-based, institutional, and stakeholder theory view of the relationship between SO and FP for organisational resilience and outlining future research directions for managing this relationship in a non-ergodic world.

Suggested Citation

  • Edgars Sedovs & Tatjana Volkova & Iveta Ludviga, 2025. "Does Sustainability Orientation Drive Financial Success in a Non-Ergodic World? A Systematic Literature Review," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-29, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:18:y:2025:i:6:p:339-:d:1682662
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/6/339/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/6/339/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Milind Kumar Jha & K. Rangarajan, 2020. "Analysis of corporate sustainability performance and corporate financial performance causal linkage in the Indian context," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-30, December.
    2. Robert G. Eccles & Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim, 2014. "The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Processes and Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(11), pages 2835-2857, November.
    3. David Meder & Finn Rabe & Tobias Morville & Kristoffer H Madsen & Magnus T Koudahl & Ray J Dolan & Hartwig R Siebner & Oliver J Hulme, 2021. "Ergodicity-breaking reveals time optimal decision making in humans," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(9), pages 1-25, September.
    4. Chaoyuan She & Giovanna Michelon, 2023. "A governance approach to stakeholder engagement in sustainable enterprises—Evidence from B Corps," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5487-5505, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Veeravel, V & Murugesan, Vijaya Prabhagar & Narayanamurthy, Vijayakumar, 2024. "Does ESG disclosure really influence the firm performance? Evidence from India," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 193-202.
    2. Gary F. Peters & Andrea M. Romi & Juan Manuel Sanchez, 2019. "The Influence of Corporate Sustainability Officers on Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(4), pages 1065-1087, November.
    3. Aseem Kaul & Jiao Luo, 2018. "An economic case for CSR: The comparative efficiency of for‐profit firms in meeting consumer demand for social goods," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(6), pages 1650-1677, June.
    4. Olivier Boiral & Marie‐Christine Brotherton & Léo Rivaud & David Talbot, 2022. "Comparing the uncomparable? An investigation of car manufacturers' climate performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2213-2229, July.
    5. Schawlowski Dan Michael, 2025. "The Correlation between Employee Benefits and Financial Performance: A Bibliometric Analysis," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 19(1), pages 294-303.
    6. Florian Kiesel & Felix Lücke, 2019. "ESG in credit ratings and the impact on financial markets," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 263-290, August.
    7. Kwon, He-Boong & Lee, Jooh, 2019. "Exploring the differential impact of environmental sustainability, operational efficiency, and corporate reputation on market valuation in high-tech-oriented firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 1-14.
    8. Andrea Lučić, 2020. "Measuring Sustainable Marketing Orientation—Scale Development Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-22, February.
    9. Homroy, Swarnodeep, 2023. "GHG emissions and firm performance: The role of CEO gender socialization," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    10. Driss, Hamdi & Drobetz, Wolfgang & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane, 2024. "The Sustainability committee and environmental disclosure: International evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 602-625.
    11. Imen Khanchel & Naima Lassoued & Rym Gargoury, 2023. "CSR and firm value: is CSR valuable during the COVID 19 crisis in the French market?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(2), pages 575-601, June.
    12. Gianni Betti & Costanza Consolandi & Robert G. Eccles, 2018. "The Relationship between Investor Materiality and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Methodological Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-23, June.
    13. Angelidis, Timotheos & Michairinas, Athanasios & Sakkas, Athanasios, 2024. "World ESG performance and economic activity," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    14. Yanfang Zhang & Mushang Lee, 2019. "A Hybrid Model for Addressing the Relationship between Financial Performance and Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-15, May.
    15. Prof. A. N. NWAOBIA & Omoniyi Oluwabusayo samuel, 2025. "Sustainability Practices and Financial Performance in Listed Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria. (A comparative Analysis of Cadbury and Nestles)," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 12(5), pages 900-913, May.
    16. David Souder & Greg Reilly & Philip Bromiley & Scott Mitchell, 2016. "A Behavioral Understanding of Investment Horizon and Firm Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 1202-1218, October.
    17. Galbreath, Jeremy, 2017. "Drivers Of Environmental Sustainability In Wine Firms: The Role And Effect Of Women In Leadership," Working Papers 253851, American Association of Wine Economists.
    18. Hadiqa Ahmad & Muhammad Yaqub & Seung Hwan Lee, 2024. "Environmental-, social-, and governance-related factors for business investment and sustainability: a scientometric review of global trends," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 2965-2987, February.
    19. Massimo Mariani & Fabio Pizzutilo & Alessandra Caragnano & Marianna Zito, 2021. "Does it pay to be environmentally responsible? Investigating the effect on the weighted average cost of capital: Environmental commitment and the cost of capital," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1854-1869, November.
    20. David Bendig & Andreas Wagner & Kevin Lau, 2023. "Does it pay to be science‐based green? The impact of science‐based emission‐reduction targets on corporate financial performance," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(1), pages 125-140, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:jjrfmx:v:18:y:2025:i:6:p:339-:d:1682662. 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.