SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS STRATEGY AND MARKET COMPETITIVENESS IN EMERGING ECONOMIES

Abstract

Background: Sustainability becomes strategically relevant when it changes cost, risk, innovation or market access. In emerging economies, that connection is especially visible because firms often face resource constraints at the same time that buyers, regulators and lenders ask for stronger environmental and social performance. Aims: This article examines the mechanisms that connect the topic to organizational or policy performance and identifies the conditions that make those mechanisms stronger or weaker. Research Method: A structured narrative review integrates peer- reviewed research with authoritative policy, statistical, and professional sources, including IFRS Foundation (2023b); UNCTAD (2025). Sources are coded by outcome, mechanism, boundary condition, and practical implication. Results and Conclusion: The synthesis indicates that outcomes are heterogeneous. A sustainability programme that is disconnected from operating economics can become a reporting exercise. Competitive advantage is more likely when environmental and social priorities are linked to product design, resource productivity, supply reliability and stakeholder trust. Six recurring themes show that implementation quality, information, capability, and institutional context frequently matter as much as the headline policy or technology. Contribution: The article offers an evidence-based framework for firms in emerging economies that translates the literature into decision principles without claiming primary data that were not collected.