Knowledge Mapping to Understand Corporate Value: Literature Review and Bibliometrics

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to summarize the research results on corporate value published from 2000 to 2022; show the research overview, hot trends, and topic evolution of this research field; provide new ideas for the mining of the research frontiers of corporate value and a summary of the change rules of research hotspots; and describe prospects for the evolution direction and path of future research. Combining the bibliometric research method with a literature review, the research results on corporate value were analyzed quantitatively by querying the WOS database from 2000 to 2022; the analysis tool was CiteSpace. This study has five findings. First, researchers are paying increasing attention to the study of corporate value, and most of the research results are obtained by independent authors. Second, Chinese research institutions rank among the top three in publication volume. However, their research results have had little impact, with Univ Penn and Peking Univ having the most significant impact. Third, the top three keywords that scholars pay attention to are performance, impact, and corporate governance. Keyword burst analysis, CSR, value reliability, and sustainability are the latest research frontiers. Fourth, evolutionary trends are divided into three stages: research on the influencing factors of corporate value, research on the impact of corporate behavior on corporate value, and research on the evaluation and growth of corporate value. Fifth, knowledge domains include corporate value research methods, the factors influencing corporate value, and corporate behavior. The aims of this study are to provide a new perspective for researchers to study corporate value, provide new ideas for enterprise managers to manage corporate value, and achieve the sustainable development of corporate value. At the same time, the scientific knowledge graph method is applied in corporate value research, adding a new research path for corporate value.