Sustainability Performance Differences between Public and Private Higher Education Institutions in Indonesia

Heri Susanto, Afni Sirait, Zuhrohtun Zuhrohtun, Rosita Rosita

Abstract


This study examines whether the Sustainability Performance of Indonesian higher education institutions registered in UI GreenMetric differs significantly between public universities and private universities. Utilizing a comparative quantitative design, the research analyzes a population of 196 institutions, comprising 104 public and 92 private universities. After conducting Shapiro Wilk normality tests, the study applied the Mann Whitney U test, supported by Welch's independent samples t test, to evaluate the overall sustainability scores across six sub dimensions. The findings reveal that public universities scored significantly higher than private universities on the aggregate sustainability score as well as across all six sub dimensions: Setting and Infrastructure, Energy and Climate Change, Waste, Water, Transportation, and Education and Research, with the narrowest gap observed in Education and Research. Theoretically and practically, this study extends prior sustainability reporting research by introducing institutional status as a comparative lens grounded in institutional isomorphism theory, offering new insights into structural inequalities in university sustainability. However, limitations include classifying institutional status based on the governing body rather than an official registry and relying on a single year UI GreenMetric dataset without incorporating separate sustainability report disclosure scores.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Adebayo, A., & Ackers, B. (2025). Comparative sustainability disclosure in state-owned enterprises: Insights from Oceania countries. Pacific Accounting Review. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/PAR-12-2024-0340

Al-Shaer, H., & Hussainey, K. (2022). Sustainability reporting beyond the business case and its impact on sustainability performance: UK evidence. Journal of Environmental Management, 311, Article 114883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114883

Alonso-Almeida, M. D. M., Marimon, F., Casani, F., & Rodriguez-Pomeda, J. (2015). Diffusion of sustainability reporting in universities: Current situation and future perspectives. Journal of Cleaner Production, 106, 144–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.02.008

Atici, K. B., Yasayacak, G., Yildiz, Y., & Ulucan, A. (2021). Green university and academic performance: An empirical study on UI GreenMetric and World University Rankings. Journal of Cleaner Production, 291, Article 125289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125289

Dewenter, K. L., & Malatesta, P. H. (2001). State-owned and privately owned firms: An empirical analysis of profitability, leverage, and labor intensity. American Economic Review, 91(1), 320–334. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.91.1.320

DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101

Domingos, J. M. F., Marques, D. G., Campos, V., & Nolasco, M. A. (2024). Analysis of the water indicators in the UI GreenMetric applied to environmental performance in a university in Brazil. Sustainability, 16(20), Article 9014. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16209014

Fitriani, A., & Sari, M. P. (2025). Sustainability reporting and sustainability performance in higher education institutions in Indonesia. Jurnal Akademi Akuntansi, 8(4), 608–623. https://doi.org/10.22219/jaa.v8i4.40341

Helfaya, A., Aboud, A., & Amin, E. (2023). An examination of corporate environmental goals disclosure, sustainability performance and firm value: An Egyptian evidence. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, 52, Article 100561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2023.100561

Hussain, J., Kui, Z., Khan, A., Akhtar, R., Ali, R., & Yin, Y. (2023). Proposing a sustainable investment index for measuring economic performance and sustainability: A step toward clean and affordable energy. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 60, Article 103564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2023.103564

Ibáñez-Forés, V., Martínez-Sánchez, V., Valls-Val, K., & Bovea, M. D. (2023). How do organisations communicate aspects related to their social performance? A proposed set of indicators and metrics for sustainability reporting. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 35, 157–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.10.024

Iqbal, S., Ashfaq, T., Taib, C. A. B., & Razalli, M. R. (2023). The effect of quality culture on service quality of public and private universities: A comparative analysis. PLOS ONE, 18(4), Article e0283679. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283679

Kantabutra, S. (2024). Toward a sustainability performance management framework. Heliyon, 10(13), Article e33729. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33729

Larrán-Jorge, M., Andrades-Peña, F. J., & Herrera-Madueño, J. (2019). An analysis of university sustainability reports from the GRI database: An examination of influential variables. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 62(6), 1019–1044. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2018.1457952

Lazzarini, S. G., & Musacchio, A. (2018). State ownership reinvented? Explaining performance differences between state-owned and private firms. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 26(4), 255–272. https://doi.org/10.1111/corg.12239

Lee, M. T., & Raschke, R. L. (2023). Stakeholder legitimacy in firm greening and financial performance: What about greenwashing temptations? Journal of Business Research, 155, Article 113393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113393

Li, F., Na, P., Mahmood, S., Wang, X., & Ahmed, T. (2025). State ownership and the sustainable development of private enterprises: Exploring the role of state ownership participation. SAGE Open, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251321848

Li, J., & Sasaki, M. (2024). The impact of state ownership on corporate social responsibility reporting: A comparison between state-owned and non-state-owned enterprises in China. Business & Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/08933189231209727

Lin, Z. (2024). Does ESG performance indicate corporate economic sustainability? Evidence based on the sustainable growth rate. Borsa Istanbul Review, 24(3), 485–493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bir.2024.02.010

Long, F., Chen, Q., Xu, L., Wang, J., & Vasa, L. (2022). Sustainable corporate environmental information disclosure: Evidence for green recovery from polluting firms of China. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, Article 1019499. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.1019499

Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83(2), 340–363. https://doi.org/10.1086/226550

Orazalin, N., & Mahmood, M. (2018). Economic, environmental, and social performance indicators of sustainability reporting: Evidence from the Russian oil and gas industry. Energy Policy, 121, 70–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.06.015

Ortiz-Martínez, E., Marín-Hernández, S., & Santos-Jaén, J. M. (2023). Sustainability, corporate social responsibility, non-financial reporting and company performance: Relationships and mediating effects in Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 35, 349–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.11.015

Perchinunno, P., & Cazzolle, M. (2020). A clustering approach for classifying universities in a world sustainability ranking. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 85, Article 106471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2020.106471

Pramono Sari, M., Faisal, F., & Harto, P. (2023). The determinants of higher education institutions' (HEIs) sustainability reporting. Cogent Business & Management, 10(3), Article 2286668. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2023.2286668

Remo-Diez, N., Mendaña-Cuervo, C., & Arenas-Parra, M. (2023). Exploring the asymmetric impact of sustainability reporting on financial performance in the utilities sector: A longitudinal comparative analysis. Utilities Policy, 84, Article 101650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2023.101650

Saini, N., Antil, A., Gunasekaran, A., Malik, K., & Balakumar, S. (2022). Environment social governance disclosures nexus between financial performance: A sustainable value chain approach. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 186, Article 106571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106571

Sassen, R., Azizi, L., & Mertins, L. (2022). What are the motivations for and obstacles to disclosing voluntary sustainability information by U.S. universities in STARS reports? Journal of Cleaner Production, 359, Article 131912. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131912

Sun, Y., Zhao, D., Cao, Y., & Xu, C. (2024). New trends in sustainability reporting: Exploring the online sustainability reporting practices by Irish universities. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 9(3), Article 100529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2024.100529

Tiyarattanachai, R., & Hollmann, N. M. (2016). Green campus initiative and its impacts on quality of life of stakeholders in green and non-green campus universities. SpringerPlus, 5, Article 84. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-1697-4

Tuo, L., Rezaee, Z., & Gao, L. (2024). Is there a tradeoff between management earnings forecasts and sustainability reporting? Global Finance Journal, 59, Article 100908. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfj.2023.100908




DOI: https://doi.org/10.32535/jicp.v9i4.5179

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2026 Heri Susanto, Afni Sirait, Zuhrohtun Zuhrohtun, Rosita Rosita

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Flag Counter

Published by:

AIBPM Publisher

Editorial Office:

JL. Kahuripan No. 9 Hotel Sahid Montana, Malang, Indonesia
Phone:
+62 341 366222
Email: journal.jicp@gmail.com
Website:http://ejournal.aibpmjournals.com/index.php/JICP

Supported by: Association of International Business & Professional Management

If you are interested to get the journal subscription you can contact us at admin@aibpm.org.

ISSN 2622-0989 (Print)
ISSN 2621-993X (Online)

DOI:Prefix 10.32535 by CrossREF

Journal of International Conference Proceedings (JICP) INDEXED:

 

In Process


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.