Exploring Perceptions of Sustainable Development in South Korea: An Approach Based on Advocacy Coalition Framework’s Belief System

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development has been criticized for its broadness and ambiguity that permits different interpretations in separate views. However, the prior studies on sustainable development generally relied on survey data, so they have some limitations that preclude congruent conclusions. In contrast to prior studies, we used Q methodology, which is designed to investigate subjective perceptions as it is. This study aims to explore the South Koreans’ perceptions of sustainable development among various stakeholders such as experts, bureaucrats, legislatures, civic group members, company employees, and journalists. Based on the hierarchical belief system of the advocacy coalition framework, we classified all statements into three categories: core value, policy core, and secondary aspects. Using Q methodology, we extracted five types: (1) democrat; (2) idealist; (3) green growth advocate; (4) skeptics; and (5) elitist. We examined the distribution of the five types according to a hierarchical belief system, and discussed implications of the findings.

Green Governance and International Business Strategies of Emerging Economies’ Multinational Enterprises: A Multiple-Case Study of Chinese Firms in Pollution-Intensive Industries

“…We implemented K-means clustering using scikit-learn in Python 3.6. Our initial centers for the four groups based on pairs (standardized FDI score, environment score) were assigned as follows: the low-low cluster was initialized at (2, 2), low-high at (2, 6), high-low at (6,2), and high-high at (6,6). Vertically, it was clustered by the average scores of countries' FDI attractiveness in WEF's EOS 2011-2016; for compositional and graphical simplicity, we labeled the matrix "growth priority".…”

“…Recent research discussing this trend has used the term "green governance" and introduced sustainability and environmental protection concepts to economic development [1]. Green governance emphasizes the balance between economic growth and environmental protection [1][2][3]. Governments around the world have increasingly recognized foreign direct investment (FDI) as an important driver of economic growth [4,5].…”

Board Power Hierarchy, Corporate Mission, and Green Performance

“…Since the United Nations (UN) introduced the concept of sustainable development in 1987, the carrying capacity of natural resources in the process of economic development has received considerable attention [42][43][44]. Then, based on the research of green GDP [45], Pierce et al introduced the concept of green economy, thinking that economy and environment affect each other and integrating environmental concerns into capital investment benefit solving the contradiction between economic growth and protecting the environment [46].…”

“…To obtain green governance conduct data, we used enterprise environmental disclosure information [100] and social responsibility disclosure information. Referring to the green governance conduct measurement method by Jaaffar and Amran [44], we obtained data from the CSMAR database and the annual reports of listed companies. Then, we analyzed the following 10 elements of the obtained data: protection of the rights and interests of shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers and consumers, environment and sustainable development, public relations and social public welfare undertakings, and social responsibility system construction, and the improvement measures and safety in production.…”

“…Firstly, we explored and measured green governance conduct and green governance performance, which enriches the research in this field. We referenced Jaaffar and Amran's measurement of enterprise green action [44] and Li's green governance guidelines and analyzed corporate social responsibility reports and green certifications, and used the (0, 1) assignment method to obtain an evaluation value of green governance conduct. This enriches the theoretical research and provides support for the index measurement for the research in this field.…”