Abstract

In recent years, sustainability has extended beyond corporate boardrooms to reshape day-to-day business operations as companies increasingly confront pressing challenges such as climate change, social inequality, and ethical governance. While much of the discourse has centered on large, publicly listed corporations, a crucial segment of the business landscape—smaller, privately owned, or unlisted firms—has remained relatively overlooked. This is despite the fact that unlisted firms account for more than half of the global workforce and nearly two-thirds of all businesses worldwide. A recent study by Rasool et al. (2025) addresses this gap by examining how unlisted firms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) engage with sustainable practices, formally referred to as Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) activities.