Sustainable supply chain Finance:Towards a research agenda

Supply chain finance (SCF) as an effective method for improving supply chain (SC) financial performance has attracted attention from both academics and industries in recent years. In the development of SCF research and practice, there is growing interest in how SCF solutions help to promote SC sustainability performance. However, the research on sustainable SCF (SSCF) remains scant; both scholars and managers have not fully realized the significant economic, environmental, and social value behind this concept. This study, based on a systematic literature review of 47 articles related to SCF and sustainability, summarizes SSCF motives, practices and outcomes. In addition, to further investigate this emerging topic, this review discusses how SSCF solutions may help to drive sustainable SC enablers as well as mitigate sustainable SC barriers, which, in turn, improves sustainable SC performance. Based on the descriptive and thematic findings, this review then develops a conceptual framework that facilitates the conceptual development of SSCF. Finally, it identifies gaps in the existing literature and provides recommendations for future research.