How can Stakeholder Capitalism contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals? A Cross-network Literature Analysis

Our research explores how Stakeholder Capitalism can contribute to global governance to achieve all the 17 SDGs. We performed a mixed study through research synthesis, categorization, and network analysis. The main findings revealed that Stakeholder Capitalism and its principles are favorable to foster a friendly environment for achieving most of the SDGs and can contribute to global governance in achieving mainly the SDGs 8, 9, and 17. However, Stakeholder Capitalism literature is incipient for the SDGs 6, 14, and 15, needing further research development by considering non-human stakeholders and the environment. Findings also revealed that Stake-holder Capitalism could promote partnerships and consensus worldwide and be an optimal source for promoting decent work, economic growth, innovation, infrastructure development, and industrial dynamism in a sustain-able manner. We also discussed how the primary constructs of Stakeholder Theory related to Stakeholder Capitalism could contribute to achieving the SDGs: stakeholder construct, stakeholder salience (power, urgency, legitimacy, and proximity), corporate social responsibility, and value creation. Furthermore, we proposed a novel comprehensive methodology helpful in analyzing literature and categorical variables by enhancing the explanatory power of results through research synthesis, categorization, exploratory data analysis, degree cen-trality, and cross-network visualization. Finally, we suggested an agenda for future studies.

Automated summary

Our research investigates how Stakeholder Capitalism can contribute to global governance in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through a mixed study combining research synthesis, categorization, and network analysis, we found that Stakeholder Capitalism and its principles provide a favorable environment for the majority of SDGs and can particularly support SDGs 8, 9, and 17. However, further research is needed to address the limited literature on Stakeholder Capitalism's impact on SDGs 6, 14, and 15, specifically considering non-human stakeholders and the environment. We also discussed the linkage between Stakeholder Theory and Stakeholder Capitalism constructs, demonstrating their potential in achieving the SDGs.