Target 8.1: Sustain per-capita economic growth
Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries
Owners voting their values help. Others must carry most of it.
Why shareholder democracy is helpful
Aggregate growth in least developed countries is driven by macroeconomic policy, commodity prices, debt and public investment. UNCTAD puts the annual SDG investment gap in developing countries at about USD 4 trillion and reports SDG-related international investment in LDCs fell 9 percent in 2022. Listed multinationals' investment decisions contribute at the margin, and UNIDO finds each manufacturing job can generate more than two jobs elsewhere. We found no shareholder resolution targeting national growth rates. Owners help at the margin by steering capital toward productive investment in LDCs. The outcome rests with governments and macroeconomic conditions.
How this was scoredHelpful
Helpful. Owners voting their values help. Others must carry most of it.
We have not yet written down the two answers behind this rating. Recording them on every item, so a reader can check the reasoning and not only the conclusion, is work in progress.
Every rating is the higher of two answers, one for what companies do and one for what they spend to stop the outcome, because the same vote reaches both. See the full method.
Sources
No shareholder advocacy found yet
We looked and found nothing that met our standard, which is a source we opened and confirmed. No shareholder advocacy located targeting national growth rates or corporate investment levels in least developed countries. The rationale already states that no shareholder resolution on national growth rates was found. Investor work on development finance that we could see is directed at governments and multilateral institutions rather than at companies through ownership.
How this rating was made
Every item on every one of our maps is read against one question: how far does this depend on the people who own companies voting their values? We answer it twice, once for what companies do and once for what they spend to stop the outcome, and take whichever answer is higher, since the same vote reaches both. The score carries its reasoning and its sources so that a reader can check it rather than take it.
- Pivotal. Owners voting their values can deliver most of the outcome.
- Necessary. Owners remove an obstacle nothing else removes, and others must also act.
- Helpful. Owners voting their values help, and others carry most of it.
- Independent. This moves without owners. Other levers carry it.
The advocacy record on this page holds only what a source we opened says happened. Where we searched and found nothing, the page says so rather than leaving a silence. Where a campaign names a filer the source does not name, it says that too. Ratings are ours; the list of subjects is UN Sustainable Development Goals's, and we link to their original.
How we score dependency, in full.