Working Paper
This paper is intended as a contribution to the ongoing conceptual development of corporate sustainability. At the business level sustainability is often equated with eco-efficiency. However, such a reduction misses several important criteria that firms have to satisfy if they want to become truly sustainable.
The authors discuss how the concept of sustainable development has evolved over the past three decades and particularly how it can be transposed to the business level. They then goes on to describe the three types of capital relevant within the concept of corporate sustainability: economic, natural, and social capital.
From this basis the authors will then develop the six criteria managers aiming for corporate sustainability will have to satisfy: eco-efficiency, socio-efficiency, eco-effectiveness, socio-effectiveness, sufficiency, and ecological equity. The paper ends with a brief outlook towards future research.
