Governance quality and the sustainable development goals: an assessment in Europe

Purpose – This research empirically investigates whether governance quality plays a role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Design/methodology/approach – Referring to the policy process theory framework and using the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGIs) model, the study examines data from 35 European countries over the period 2015–2022, resulting in a panel dataset comprising 245 observations. The SDG Index, published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, is used to measure progress toward SDG achievement. Findings – The findings document a nexus between governance quality and SDG achievement. More concretely, countries with more transparency, governance stability and effectiveness, better regulatory systems and corruption control tend to achieve more significant progress toward sustainable development, especially in the social and economic goals. Originality/value – Literature on SDGs is growing, but only a few studies have examined the role of good governance quality. This study contributes to this emerging literature strand and expands a line of research discussing how enhancing the quality of governance can facilitate SDG achievement.