Firms and the Growth-Sustainability Nexus: A Review and Research Agenda

Abstract

Scholars of corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility have long pointed to the detrimental consequences of economic growth for ecological and social systems. However, thus far, the debate on the growth-sustainability nexus has primarily taken place at the macro-economic level. As a result, although firm growth forms a central underlying driver of economic growth, it remains unclear which role firms (can) play in fostering or hindering a post-growth world and how they can design strategies that more explicitly take into account the negative consequences of growth. To address this shortcoming, we analyze the management literature on growth to gain firm-level insights on the outcomes, measures, strategies, and drivers of growth, and to derive implications for the field of corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Our review shows that firm growth represents an important, prominent, and heterogeneous topic in management scholarship. Yet, sustainability considerations or critical reflections on firm growth have not made their way into the leading general management and sustainability management journals. Reflecting on our findings from a sustainability perspective, we develop a robust research agenda to stimulate future micro-level research on the growth–sustainability nexus.