Abstract Book of the 11th International Conference on Business, Management and Economics
Year: 2025
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Social Responsibility Policies and SDG Alignment in Oil & Gas Firms
Evgenia Anagnostopoulou
ABSTRACT:
This study investigates how leading oil and gas companies implement social responsibility policies, mitigate controversies, and align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We analyzed a cross-sectional sample of 211 publicly traded companies, focusing on seven key variables: Health & Safety Policy, Bribery & Corruption Policy, Bribery/Corruption/Fraud Controversies, Community Involvement Policy, Injury Rate Reduction, and Net Employment Creation. Additionally, a six-item SDG People Composite Index, which includes SDGs 3, 7, 8, 9, 13, and 16, was created.
Descriptive statistics show high policy scores for Health & Safety and Bribery & Corruption. Injury rate reduction and net employment creation are clustered near zero change, while the SDG People Index averages at a moderate level. Pearson correlations reveal a strong negative relationship between Health & Safety and Bribery & Corruption policies, a positive association between Community Involvement and SDG People alignment, and negative relationships between Controversies and both Community Involvement and the SDG People Index. There are only weak connections between injury reductions and employment gains, particularly in terms of policy or SDG alignment. Kruskal-Wallis tests indicate significant differences in Health & Safety, Bribery & Corruption Policy, and SDG People alignment, with downstream firms showing stronger integration of social SDGs; however, controversies and operational outcomes do not vary by segment.
These findings highlight a “symbolic gap” between policy adoption and actual social outcomes, emphasizing the need for improved accountability mechanisms to translate SDG alignment into tangible improvements in workforce safety, community welfare, and ethical conduct.
Keywords: bribery & corruption policy, community involvement policy, corporate social responsibility, injury rate reduction, sdg people composite index