Emerging trends of environmental social and governance (ESG) disclosure research

Abstract

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) requirements have recently gained significant attention globally. Consequently, regulatory authorities in many countries have set mandatory ESG disclosure regulations in place. However, the literature focusing on ESG disclosure is relatively new and still evolving. The present work aims to systematically review the extant literature on ESG disclosure. In doing so, the “Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews” is followed. In order to present a comprehensive research idea, 214 high-quality research articles were retrieved. Subsequently, the Theories, Contexts, Characteristics, and Methodologies (TCCM) framework was employed to analyse the articles extensively. The analysis presents three major ESG disclosure antecedents: (i) Mandatory disclosure regulations, (ii) Sustainability reporting frameworks, (iii) Corporate governance attributes, and three major outcomes: (i) Firm performance, (ii) Market returns and (iii) Environmental performance. Given that various authorities are increasingly implementing directives on mandatory ESG disclosure, the present review recommends paying closer attention to these regulations and their influence on environmental performance. The review further discussed the emerging issues for future research to explore, which are highly relevant to both new and existing researchers.