Definition/Description
The definitions of economic sustainability are various depending on the approach and sustainability label used. In the inside approach, economic sustainability is interpreted either from the perspectives of very weak or weak sustainability. The former stresses how organizations stay in business looking at the issues of corporate turnover and brand reputation and considering these to be at the heart of economic sustainability (Doane and MacGillivray 2001). The latter links the concept with productive efficiency and economic growth (Foladori 2005). Within a business context, this means using the assorted assets of the company efficiently to allow it to continue functioning profitability over time (BusinessDictionary 2018). Economic growth may take place at the expense of natural resources, ecosystem services, or welfare if the total capital stock is maintaining through time (Turner 1993).
In the outside approach,...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Anand, S., & Sen, A. (2000). Human development and economic sustainability. World Development, 28(12), 2029–2049. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.699.3587&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Accessed 11 Dec 2018.
Bartelmus, P. (2003). Dematerialization and capital maintenance: Two sides of the sustainability coin. Ecological Economics, 46(1), 61–81.
Basiago, A. D. (1999). Economic, social, and environmental sustainability in development theory and urban planning practice. The Environmentalist, 19, 145–161.
BusinessDictionary. (2018). Economic sustainability. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/economic-sustainability.html. Accessed 9 Dec 2018.
Cabeza Gutés, M. (1996). The concept of weak sustainability. Ecological Economics, 17, 147–156.
Chen, A. J. W., Boudreau, M.-C., & Watson, R. T. (2008). Information systems and ecological sustainability. Journal of Systems and Information Technology, 10(3), 186–201. https://doi.org/10.1108/13287260810916907.
Davies, G. R. (2013). Appraising weak and strong Sustainability: Searching for a middle ground. Consilience: The Journal of Sustainable Development, 10(1), 111–124.
Dekker, P., & Uslaner, E. M. (2001). Introduction. In E. M. Uslaner (Ed.), Social capital and participation in everyday life (pp. 1–8). London: Routledge.
Doane, D., & MacGillivray, A. (2001). Economic Sustainability. The business of staying in business. Economic Sustainability – The business of staying in business, r&dreport. The SIGMA Project. http://www.projectsigma.co.uk/RnDStreams/RD_economic_sustain.pdf. Accessed 13 Dec 2018.
Dyllick, T., & Hockerts, K. (2002). Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability. Business Strategy and Environment, 11, 130–141. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.323.
Economic Sustainability. (2018). Definition of economic sustainability. http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/EconomicSustainability.htm. Accessed 13 Dec 2018.
Economic Sustainability – Sustainability. (2018). University of Mary Washington. https://sustainability.umw.edu/areas-of-sustainability/economic-sustainability/. Accessed 13 Dec 2018.
Ehrenfeld, J. R. (2000). Colorless green ideas sleep furiously: Is the emergence of “sustainable” practices meaningful? Reflections: The SoL Journal on Knowledge, Learning, and Change, 1(4), 34–47. https://doi.org/10.1162/152417300569935.
Elkington, J. (1994). Towards the sustainable corporation: Win-Win-Win business strategies for sustainable development. California Management Review, 36(2), 90–100. https://doi.org/10.2307/41165746.
Elkington, J. (1997). Cannibals with forks – Triple bottom line of 21st century business. Stoney Creek: New Society Publishers.
Elkington, J. (1998). Partnerships from cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business. Environmental Quality Management, 6, 37–51.
Fiorino, D. J. (2011). Explaining national environmental performance: Approaches, evidence, and implications. Policy Sciences, 44(4), 367–389.
Foladori, G. (2005). Advances and limits of social sustainability as an evolving concept. Canadian Journal of Development Studies, XXVI(3), 501–510. https://doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2005.9669070.
Friedman, M. (1970). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. The New York Times Magazine, September 13. http://umich.edu/~thecore/doc/Friedman.pdf. Accessed 13 Dec 2018.
Gibbs, D. C., Longhurst, J., & Braithwaite, C. (1998). ‘Struggling with sustainability’: Weak and strong interpretations of sustainable development within local authority policy. Environment and Planning A, 30, 135–1365.
Goodland, R. (1995). The concept of environmental Sustainability. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 26, 1–24.
Gupta, N. (2014). Economics of sustainable development. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 19(12), Ver. II, 29–34. e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845.
Hediger, W. (2000). Sustainable development and social welfare. Ecological Economics, 32, 481–492.
Hicks, J. R. (1946). Value and capital (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Holden, E., Linnerud, K., & Banister, D. (2014). Sustainable development: Our Common Future revisited. Global Environmental Change, 26, 130–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.04.006. Accessed 14 Dec 2018.
Investopedia. (2018). Social capital. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/socialcapital.asp. Accessed 13 Dec 2018.
Klarin, T. (2018). The concept of sustainable development: From its beginning to the contemporary issues. Zagreb International Review of Economics & Business, 21(1), 67–94. https://doi.org/10.2478/zireb-2018-0005. ISSN 1331-5609; UDC: 33+65.
Markulev, A., & Long, A. (2013). On sustainability: An economic approach (Staff Research Note). Canberra: Productivity Commission. https://www.pc.gov.au/research/supporting/sustainability. Accessed 11 Dec 2018. ISBN 978-1-74037-439-2.
Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D. L., Randers, J., & Behrens, W. W., III. (1972). The limits of growth. A report for the Club of Rom’s Project on the Predikament of Mankind. New York: Universe Books. http://www.donellameadows.org/wp-content/userfiles/Limits-to-Growth-digital-scan-version.pdf. Accessed 13 Dec 2018.
O’Riordan, T. (1996). Environmentalism on the move. In I. Douglas, R. Huggett, & M. Robinson (Eds.), Companion encyclopaedia of geography (pp. 449–476). London: Routledge. http://www.univpgri-palembang.ac.id/perpus-fkip/Perpustakaan/East%20Phylosopy/Economic%20Geography/COMPANION%20ENCYCLOPEDIA%20OF%20GEOGRAPHY.pdf. Accessed 28 Nov 2018.
Ross, S. (2015). What is human capital and how is it used? https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/032715/what-human-capital-and-how-it-used.asp. Accessed 13 Dec 2018.
Spreckley, F. (1981). Social audit: A management tool for co-operative working. Leeds: Beechwood College. http://www.setoolbelt.org/resources/1929. Accessed 5 Dec 2018.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (2016). What is social capital? Insights: Human Capital. https://www.oecd.org/insights/37966934.pdf. Accessed 13 Dec 2018.
The Royal Sociaty for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). (1995). Tomorrow’s Company. RSA Inquiry, Tomorrow’s Company: The role of business in a changing world. https://tomorrowscompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/RSA-Inquiry-Tomorrows-Company-1995.compressed.pdf. Accessed 13 Dec 2018.
Turner, R. K. (1993). Sustainability: Principles and practice. In R. K. Turner (Ed.), Sustainable environmental economics and management: Principles and practice (pp. 3–36). London: Belhaven Press.
Uslaner, E. M. (2001). Volunteering and social capital: How trust and religion shape civic participation in the United States. In E. M. Uslaner (Ed.), Social capital and participation in everyday life (pp. 104–117). London: Routledge.
Van der Vorst, R., Grafe-Buckens, A., & Sheate, W. R. (1999). A systemic framework for environmental decision-making. Journal of Environmental Assessment and Policy Management, 1(1), 1–26.
Williams, C. C., & Millington, A. C. (2004). The diverse and contested meanings of sustainable development. The Geographical Journal, 170(2), 99–104.
Zadek, S., & Tuppen, C. (2000). Adding values. The economics of sustainable business. London: Corporate Reputation and Social Policy Unit, British Telecommunications.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Jeronen, E. (2020). Economic Sustainability. In: Idowu, S., Schmidpeter, R., Capaldi, N., Zu, L., Del Baldo, M., Abreu, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_197-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02006-4_197-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02006-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02006-4
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences