Corporate governance and sustainability: a review of the existing literature

Abstract

Over the last 2 decades, the literature on corporate governance and sustainability has increased substantially. In this study, we analyze 468 research studies published between 1999 and 2019 by employing three clustering analysis visualization techniques, namely keyword network clustering, co-citation network clustering, and overlay visualization. In addition, we provide a brief review of each cluster. We find that the number of published items that fall under our search criteria has grown over the years, having surged at various times including 2014. We identified three main thematic clusters, which we have called (1) corporate social responsibility and reporting, (2) corporate governance strategies, and (3) board composition. The weighted average years that major keywords appear in the literature published over the last 2 decades fall into a period of 4 years between 2014 and 2017. This is due to the massive increase in the number of publications on corporate governance and sustainability in recent years. By means of chronological analysis, we observe a transition from more abstract concepts-such as 'society,' 'ethics,' and 'responsibility'-to more tangible and actionable terms such as 'female director,' 'board size,' and 'independent director.' Our review suggests that corporate governance and sustainability literature is evolving from quite a conceptual approach to rather more strategic and practical studies, while its theoretical roots can be traced back to a number of foundational studies in stakeholder theory, agency theory and sociopolitical theories of voluntary disclosure.

Dynamic Corporate Governance, Innovation, and Sustainability: Post-COVID Period

“…This trend is in line with research directions within other industry sectors. Studies are mainly based on stakeholder theory and agency theory, which are adequate for analyzing CG structures and mechanisms and their relationship with sustainability, but there is a need for further theoretical and methodological approaches, in order to highlight specific problems or perspectives regarding CG and sustainability [9]. Despite this, there have only been a few publications that offer new paths for sustainability-oriented CG research and actions.…”

“…From a theoretical perspective, the dominant research areas of this sector, which integrate sustainability and CG topics, usually focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR), CSR reporting and the financial outcomes of implementing and reporting CSR activities [6][7][8]. While the financial and reporting aspects derive from the "sustainability" root of this research, the CG theoretical background of many studies is limited to the agency theory and the stakeholder theory [9]. Finding new methods of CG research and practice should received increased attention in the era of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) pressures and opportunities [10,11], and the macroenvironmental changes generated by COVID-19, which also affect the energy sector [12].…”

Exploring the Hotspots and Frontiers of Voluntary Disclosure Studies around the World Using Bibliometric Analysis

“…6 two keywords (co-occurrence) is the number of publications that contain both keywords in their titles and abstracts (Naciti et al 2021).…”

Women in top echelon positions and their effects on sustainability: a review, synthesis and future research agenda

“…In the literature there are already some reviews and meta-analyses that focus on the effect of corporate governance or BoDs on sustainability and CSR. 1 For example, Naciti et al (2021) conduct a review that analyses the evolution of corporate governance rules regarding sustainability. Regarding BoD, the review of Rao and Tilt (2016b) examines how its diversity (e.g.…”

“…These databases have many advantages: they are readily updated; they offers the most valuable collection of data; they are considered as the most reliable, relevant and prestigious database for literature reviews; they ensure that all types of publications are manually selected and scanned with the aim to include only high-impact studies (see e.g.,Caputo et al, 2018;Falagas et al, 2008;Naciti et al, 2021).…”