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An Overview of Literature on ESG Performance Using Bibliometric Analysis

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The research on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance has increased in the past two decades, however, overview of this topic is still insufficient. This paper aims at identifying the most influential journals, articles, authors, countries, and themes surrounding ESG performance to provide future research directions. This paper analysed 478 articles published in Scopus database using bibliometric tools such as Biblioshiny and VOSviewer. Findings reveal a rising trend of articles production from year 2011 to 20 March 2024, which can be categorised into three stages: The initial Phase (2011-2018); the Gradual Development Phase (2019-2022); and the Rapid Development Phase (2023-March 20, 2024). Three-word clouds of the author’s keywords also match with the three stages where different keywords were used at different stages, contributing to the trends of ESG performance. In addition, considering the network visualisation of the author’s keywords, ESG performance can be subdivided into four themes which are ESG integration and corporate performance evaluation; ESG practice and ESG performance; corporate governance and ESG performance by pillars; and ESG drive innovation amidst external pressures. Lastly, future research directions for ESG research are proposed.
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