Mapping CSR/ESG challenges through double materiality : a comparative sectoral analysis for advancing the SDGs

Abstract

While the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a global sustainability framework, limited research explains why firms in emerging economies struggle to integrate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices systematically. Prior studies often examine barriers in isolation, without distinguishing between financial and impact materiality or accounting for cross-sectoral variation. Addressing this gap, the present study integrates the double materiality perspective with Delphi assisted total interpretive structural model (D-TISM) and MICMAC analysis to uncover the structural interdependencies among CSR/ESG barriers across sectors and firm sizes in India.Using a mixed-method design combining a systematic literature review, expert-based Delphi rounds, D-TISM modelling, MICMAC classification, and semi-structured interviews, the study identifies twelve interrelated barriers and classifies them into driving, linkage, dependent, and autonomous categories. The findings reveal that high-driving barriers particularly limited access to information and lack of government incentives that generate cascading effects across both financial and impact materiality dimensions. Moreover, barrier configurations differ significantly across sectors and firm sizes, highlighting that double materiality is operationalized unevenly in practice. By structurally mapping barrier interdependencies through a double materiality lens, this study advances sustainability scholarship beyond descriptive barrier identification and offers sector-sensitive strategies for firms, regulators, and policymakers seeking to accelerate CSR/ESG adoption and SDGs alignment in emerging economies. © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/