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Institutional Quality, Governance and Progress towards the SDGs

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  • Edward B. Barbier

    (Department of Economics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1771, USA)

  • Joanne C. Burgess

    (Department of Economics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1771, USA)

Abstract

Whether institutional quality and governance help or hinder progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of UN Agenda 2030 is an important issue to consider. These fundamental social structures are generally under-represented among the SDGs, but institutional quality and governance often have an important role in supporting or constraining efforts to achieve sustainable development. We compare estimates of the changes in net welfare that reflect progress towards the 17 SDGs over 2000–2018 with two institutional quality and governance indicators over the same period. We do this at the world level, for the group of low-income countries and for nine representative developing countries. We utilize the Worldwide Governance Indicators and OECD’s Country Risk Classification as our two institutional quality and governance measures. We find that SDG welfare gains are somewhat correlated with institutional quality and highly correlated with lower country risk. These results suggest that good governance and institutional effectiveness are associated with long-run development and sustainability success. Long-term progress towards the SDGs may hinge on improved institutional quality and reduced country risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward B. Barbier & Joanne C. Burgess, 2021. "Institutional Quality, Governance and Progress towards the SDGs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-11, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11798-:d:664653
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    1. Burcu Ozcan & Serkan Eryilmaz & Feyyaz Zeren, 2026. "Determinants of sustainable development goals in Sub-Saharan Africa: the roles of foreign direct investment inflows, environmental taxes, and natural resource rents," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 1-34, April.
    2. Chidiogo J. Okpala & Ebele S. Nwokoye & Queen C. Okeke, 2025. "Adult Literacy and Capital Inflows in Nigeria: Investigating Institutional Quality Interaction Effect," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(2), pages 186-203, February.
    3. Anil Markandya & Laura Cavalli & Arnab Bhattacharya & Gregmar Galinato & Luca Farnia, 2025. "Links between the sustainable development goals: An analysis for Italy," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 1068-1084, February.
    4. Emine Tahsin, 2026. "Challenges of the SDGs performance of Türkiye “An Evenness and Income Trend Evaluation”," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-35, March.
    5. Sun, Zhaoyang & Liu, Ling & Pan, Runquan & Wang, Yiwei & Zhang, Bingbing, 2025. "Tourism and economic growth: The role of institutional quality," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    6. Ali Hamid & Rayed Obaid Hammoud AlObaid, 2025. "Achieving sustainable development goals: do governance and foreign direct investment matter?," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Beata Bieszk-Stolorz & Krzysztof Dmytrów, 2023. "Decent Work and Economic Growth in EU Countries—Static and Dynamic Analyses of Sustainable Development Goal 8," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-18, September.
    8. Luisa Marti & Roberto Cervelló‐Royo, 2023. "Disparities in sustainable development goals compliance and their association with country risk," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(4), pages 3038-3051, August.
    9. Bing Wang & Tianchi Chen, 2024. "What do the sustainable development goals reveal, and are they sufficient for sustainable development?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(11), pages 1-23, November.
    10. Flavia Massuga & Marcos Aurélio Larson & Marcos Roberto Kuhl & Sérgio Luis Dias Doliveira, 2024. "The influence of global governance on the sustainable performance of countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(11), pages 28567-28589, November.
    11. Ana‐María Ríos & Nicola Raimo & Bernardino Benito & Filippo Vitolla & María‐Dolores Guillamón, 2026. "Governing for the Goals: How Governance Quality Shapes the Achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(S2), pages 422-436, March.
    12. Zou, Xinni & Mehmood, Usman & Wang, Weiqi, 2025. "Do digital finance, governance, and energy efficiency mitigate or worsen environmental degradation? Evidence from belt and road economies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PG).
    13. Tran Hoang Minh Khoi & Huynh Van Quoc & Tran Gia Huy & Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang & Nguyen Minh Tai, 2026. "Assessing the Drivers of Sustainable Development in Vietnam: A Bayesian Perspective on Institutional Quality, Green Investment, and Globalization," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 1043-1060, February.
    14. Oana-Ramona Lobonț & Ana-Elena Varadi & Sorana Vătavu & Nicoleta-Mihaela Doran, 2025. "Bridges or Barriers? Unpacking the Institutional Drivers of Business Climate Adaptation in the EU," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-20, May.
    15. Godfred Addai & George Babington Amegavi & Guy Robinson, 2024. "Advancing environmental sustainability: The dynamic relationship between renewable energy, institutional quality, and ecological footprint in the N‐11 countries," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 7397-7408, December.
    16. Colin Knox & Serik Orazgaliyev, 2024. "Sustainable development goals and good governance nexus: Implementation challenges in central Asia," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(4), pages 237-251, October.
    17. Ahmad Saad Gillani & Durdana Qaiser Gillani, 2023. "Sector Specific Aid Inflow, Institutional Quality and Human Development in Selected Developing Countries," Journal of Economic Impact, Science Impact Publishers, vol. 5(1), pages 64-68.

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