Can multinational companies foster institutional change and sustainable development in emerging countries? A case study.

Emerging countries present institutional necessities that hinder their sustainable development. In the face of this challenge, companies, and in particular multinational companies (MNCs), can foster sustainable development through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. This study focuses on the role of institutional change in transforming CSR into sustainable development in emerging countries. To this end, we propose a view of CSR focused on its institutional determinants and outcomes from a social and developmental perspective. By using quantitative and qualitative data, we analyse the case of three MNCs from different industries based in Europe and operating in Mexico. The case study shows how firms can stimulate institutional change in developing economies and contribute to their sustainable development as measured by the sustainable development goals. Various mechanisms about how this process is made are devised: institutional entrepreneurship, multistakeholder initiatives, interconnection of different institutional dimensions, and subsidiary entrepreneurship. The case study highlights the interaction among MNCs, developing countries, and institutions and how firms' sustainable actions scale up to the macro level.post-print399 K

Green Protocols for Neighborhoods and Cities

The rating systems which certify the environmental sustainability of neighbourhoods or cities contribute greatly to enhancing the quality of built environ-ments, also from a social and economic point of view, thus improving the quality of life of the inhabitants. For this reason, in a proper vision of green planning of cities and communities they are essential tools. This chapter focuses on the most widespread protocols used for the certification of urban space sustainability: BREEAM® Com-munity, LEED® V4 for Neighbourhood Development and LEED® for Cities and Communities. The analysis confirms the validity of these instruments which, in addi-tion to certifying the environmental, social and economic sustainability of neighbour-hoods and cities, provide indicators that facilitate an objective comparison between different urban realities. The completeness of the areas covered by these protocols certainly places them among smart city protocols