Corporate sustainability and stock market dynamics: What challenges arise for future research?

Abstract

This study investigates the evolving nexus between corporate sustainability (CS) practices and stock market dynamics (SMD), offering a comprehensive bibliometric and systematic review of 642 articles from Web of Science and Scopus (2008–2024). Bibliometric mapping revealed six key research clusters: responsible investment and ESG risk management; corporate governance and sustainable financial performance; asset valuation and sustainable investment; capital markets and ESG in emerging economies; ESG dimensions and stock returns; and innovation in ESG assessment. The review highlights exponential growth in CS-SMD research since 2018, fueled by rising ESG awareness, but also underscores significant regional disparities due to inconsistent ESG disclosure and limited investor knowledge in emerging markets. Future research should focus on standardizing ESG metrics, developing dynamic models integrating macroeconomic and sectoral factors, exploring investor psychology and regulatory impacts, and applying advanced analytics with interpretability. This study provides the first integrated bibliometric-systematic synthesis of CS-SMD literature, mapping theoretical foundations, empirical trends, and methodological innovations, and proposes a structured research agenda to bridge current knowledge gaps, enhance investor understanding, and inform policy frameworks supporting resilient, sustainable financial markets.