Reframing Sustainable Livelihoods through the Resource-Based View: A Critical Review and Future Research Agenda

This article critically reframes sustainable livelihoods through the Resource-Based View to advance a more dynamic and theoretically grounded understanding of livelihood sustainability. While the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework has long emphasized livelihood capitals and vulnerability contexts, its conventional formulation often treats resources as static assets rather than as dynamic bundles that must be accessed, converted, combined, governed, and renewed over time. Using a critical and integrative review design informed by systematic review principles, this study synthesizes recent literature on sustainable livelihoods, livelihood capitals, resource orchestration, stakeholder governance, green innovation, and dynamic capabilities. The review shows that livelihood sustainability depends not merely on the possession of human, social, natural, physical, and financial capital, but on the capability to transform these capitals into resilience, adaptive capacity, ecological stewardship, social inclusion, and long-term well-being. The article contributes by repositioning livelihood capitals as strategic resource bundles embedded in social, ecological, and institutional systems. It further proposes a future research agenda focused on resource conversion capabilities, multi-level resource orchestration, inclusive governance, and the changing value of livelihood resources under climate, market, and institutional uncertainty. This reframing offers a stronger conceptual foundation for designing livelihood interventions that are capability-building, equity-oriented, and sustainability-driven.