Assessing the coherence between performance and resource investment for the sustainable development goals in Paraguay: a data-driven hybrid method

This study addresses the coherence between performance and resource investment because prior studies have suggested diverse approaches to assessing performance in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, a serious imbalance in resource investment still exists in current practices because there is an urgent need for countries to pursue the SDGs to achieve the 2030 Agenda. Paraguay is striving to issue sustainable bonds to address the SDGs. To fill the gaps in relevant research, this study proposes a data-driven hybrid method that (1) employs a normalization procedure to obtain unit-free values for comparison, (2) adopts factor analysis (FA) and reliability testing (RT) to ensure the validity and reliability of the structured goals, and (3) uses performance-resource analysis to identify the coherence between performance and resource investment. The results show that performance and resource investment for zero hunger (SDG 2) and decent work and economic growth (SDG 8) are below average and urgently need improvement. Responsible consumption and production (SDG 12) is the SDG for which Paraguay has reached a level of coherence. Most provinces in Paraguay are overconcentrating on a single goal in pursuing the SDGs. Alto Paraná, Itapúa and the Central Department are provinces in rich areas that are enabling the country to reach a level of coherence. However, Itapúa is the only province that is balancing at least four SDGs.