Reviewing the ESG Investment and Financial Performance Literature: A Bibliometric and Systematic Review for Future Research

Abstract

This study presents a thorough bibliometric and systematic review, devoted specifically to the literature concerned with the relationship between ESG investment and a firm's financial performance, by identifying crucial areas of future investigation. The paper presents a combined bibliometric and systematic literature review of 168 publications indexed in Scopus to cluster them into thematic groups, authors with the most impact, and geographical distribution with VOSviewer, and synthesize significant results of the literature on the area of corporate governance within ESG investment, performance, and ESG‐related regulatory and investment policy. Based on these findings, we suggest a TCCM framework that reveals the gaps in the theoretical perspective, methodological constraints, and sector‐specificities in ESG adoption in investment and corporate financial contexts. We find in our analysis that research is concentrated heavily in developed markets, that a variety of emerging regions are under‐represented, and that evidence on the financial benefits of ESG is mixed and usually context and measurement‐dependent. We end with specific recommendations of corporate governance within ESG investment to boards, regulators, and investors, and suggest a priority agenda for future empirical research. The article is relevant to ESG investment and financial‐performance research because it unites visual bibliometrics with formal SLR synthesis to inform scholarly and practitioner audiences. Existing literature on the review of ESG focuses solely on bibliometric trends or thematic discussions as independent analysis, where this paper combines bibliometric mapping, systematic synthesis of themes, and TCCM‐based structure to identify theoretical, contextual, and methodological gaps as an avenue for future ESG investment and financial‐performance research.