Mapping the Landscape of the Literature on Environmental, Social, Governance Disclosure and Firm Value: A Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Review

Abstract

Increased interest in sustainability and related issues has led to the development of disclosed corporate information on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Additionally, questions have arisen about whether these disclosures affect the firm’s value. Therefore, we conducted a bibliometric analysis coupled with a systematic literature review (SLR) of the current literature in the Scopus database from 2001 to 2023. We utilized VOS viewer, Site Space, and R Studio tools for this analysis. Our findings indicate that the relationship between ESG disclosures and the firm’s value has different effects and that disclosure impacts through various channels, such as increasing stakeholder trust. Moreover, the keyword analysis results before and after 2015 demonstrate significant advancement in the utilization of a theoretical foundation in the literature. Furthermore, China (Country), “Universidad de Salamanca” (University), “Uyar, Ali and García-Sánchez, Isabel-María” (Authors), and “Sustainability” and “Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management” (Journals) were the most contributing and influential in this field. On the other hand, the results revealed six thematic clusters: society, sustainable development, ESG, organization, innovation, and stakeholders. We found promising research paths and emerging themes through content analysis of these clusters, such as sustainability assurance, green innovation, and sustainable development goals (SDGs). This review concludes by providing a roadmap that includes emerging lines of research that can be explored in depth in future studies to promote better and more comprehensive integration to achieve sustainability and maximize firm value.