JSR

Background: The global demand for climate-based sustainable development highlights issues of social justice and resource scarcity, positioning Multinational corporations (MNEs) as key players. Their economic, environmental, and social impacts underscore the need for robust sustainability measures. This paper explores MNE development and its role in achieving sustainable development goals, specifically focusing on industry, innovation, and infrastructure (SDG 9). Methods: The author employs an exploratory research method using STATISTA data on revenue and employee numbers for the top 100 European companies (2020–2022), focusing only on EU-based MNEs. Additionally, covariance analysis and the Spearman correlation method are used to examine the relationship between MNE indicators and SDG 9. Results: This study suggests looking at MNEs as the players that leverage sustainability initiatives. The authors performed several studies. The bibliometric analysis results show that seven clusters have been created to summarize prevalent topics on MNE topics. Only one is related to sustainable development, strategies for multinational corporate groups, and global sustainable development goals. Further, the authors investigated relationships between MNE and one of the sustainable development goals (SDG 9). By forming a correlation matrix, the authors identified the existence of the middle-strength relationships. The authors identified that the highest correlation coefficient exists between SDG 9 and several domains operated by MNE. Conclusions: To ensure sustainable growth, multinational corporations must meet their targets, aligning their contributions with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and supporting long-term sustainability initiatives.

international business; multinational corporations; sustainability; SDG; revenue; bibliometric analysis