Research trends on environmental, social, and governance in SMEs: A bibliometric analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18196/jai.v26i1.25808Keywords:
Bibliometric Analysis, ESG, SMEs, VOSviewerAbstract
Research aims: This study used a scoping review and bibliometric analysis to analyze all publications on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) study trends, specifically in the context of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Design/Methodology/Approach: Ninety-four (94) ESG articles on SMEs indexed in the Scopus database were described through coverage and bibliometric analysis. The articles were analyzed based on the number of publications per year, contributing countries, authors, and cited documents. Furthermore, VOSviewer was used to provide a visual analysis of keyword occurrences.
Research findings: The growing body of research on ESG in SMEs reflects an increasing global awareness of its significance. Notably, publications on this topic have surged year after year, with Asia leading the discourse and Europe following closely. Among individual countries, China and Italy stand out as the most prolific contributors. This upward trend underscores the rising importance of ESG in SMEs, positioning it as a critical area of discussion among international scholars.
Theoretical contribution/ Originality: This paper analyzes ESG research trends in SMEs, mapping key developments and gaps. Synthesizing past studies highlights critical insights and future research directions, positioning ESG in SMEs as a growing global discourse.
Research limitation/Implication: This study is limited to the Scopus database and focuses solely on ESG research in SMEs. It used only one bibliometric analysis tool to evaluate research trends, which may not capture a broader perspective from other databases or analytical approaches.
References
Asgary, A., Ozdemir, A. I., & Özyürek, H. (2020). Small and Medium Enterprises and Global Risks: Evidence from Manufacturing SMEs in Turkey. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 11(1), 59–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-020-00247-0
Bansal, M. (2021). The sustainability reporting-firm performance nexus: evidence from a threshold model. Journal of Global Responsibility, 12(4), 491–512. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGR-05-2021-0049
Bosi, M. K., Lajuni, N., Wellfren, A. C., & Lim, T. S. (2022). Sustainability Reporting through Environmental, Social, and Governance: A Bibliometric Review. Sustainability, 14(19). https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912071
Chen, Y. P. V, Zhuo, Z., Huang, Z., & Li, W. (2022). Environmental regulation and ESG of SMEs in China: Porter hypothesis re-tested. Science of the Total Environment, 850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157967
Cheng, X., & Feng, C. (2023). Does environmental information disclosure affect corporate cash flow? An analysis by taking media attentions into consideration. Journal of Environmental Management, 342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118295
Chiloane-Tsoka, E., & Rasivetshele, A. M. (2014). Corporate social responsibility: A toolkit for SMEs efficiency in Tshwane, South Africa. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 12(4), 276–282. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84943814662&partnerID=40&md5=4c6f01c8f165ec599142d5d17f20fb4f
Cronin, M., & Doyle-Kent, M. (2022). Creating Value with Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) in Irish Manufacturing SMEs’: A Focus on Disclosure of Climate Change Risks and Opportunities. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 55(39), 48–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2022.12.009
Donthu, N., Kumar, S., Mukherjee, D., Pandey, N., & Lim, W. M. (2021). How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 133, 285–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.070
Esposito De Falco, S., Scandurra, G., & Thomas, A. (2021). How stakeholders affect the pursuit of the Environmental, Social, and Governance. Evidence from innovative small and medium enterprises. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 28(5), 1528–1539. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2183
Faccia, A., Manni, F., & Capitanio, F. (2021). Mandatory esg reporting and xbrl taxonomies combination: ESG ratings and income statement, a sustainable value-added disclosure. Sustainability, 13 (16). https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168876
Fatemi, A. (2018). ESG performance and firm value: The moderating role of disclosure. Global Finance Journal, 38, 45–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfj.2017.03.001
Garrido-Ruso, M., Otero-González, L., López-Penabad, M.-C., & Santomil, P. D. (2024). Does ESG implementation influence performance and risk in SMEs? Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 31 (5). https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2783
Gholami, A., Murray, P. A., & Sands, J. (2022). Environmental, Social, Governance & Financial Performance Disclosure for Large Firms: Is This Different for SME Firms? Sustainability, 14(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106019
Gjergji, R., Vena, L., Sciascia, S., & Cortesi, A. (2021). The effects of environmental, social and governance disclosure on the cost of capital in small and medium enterprises: The role of family business status. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30(1), 683–693. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2647
GRI. (2021). A short Introduction to the GRI Standards. https://www.globalreporting.org/media/wtaf14tw/a-short-introduction-to-the-gri-standards.pdf
Hammann, E.-M., Habisch, A., & Pechlaner, H. (2009). Values that create value: socially responsible business practices in SMEs-empirical evidence from German companies. Business Ethics : A European Review, 18(1), 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8608.2009.01547.x
Harasheh, M. (2023). Freshen up before going public: Do environmental, social, and governance factors affect firms’ appearance during the initial public offering? Business Strategy and the Environment, 32(4), 2509–2521. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3261
Herzig, C., & Schaltegger, S. (2006). Corporate Sustainability Reporting. An overview. In Sustainability Accounting and Reporting, 301–324. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4974-3_13
Jorgensen, A. L., & Knudsen, J. S. (2006). Sustainable competitiveness in global value chains: How do small Danish firms behave? Corporate Governance, 6(4), 449–462. https://doi.org/10.1108/14720700610689568
Kaiser, L. (2020). ESG integration: value, growth and momentum. Journal of Asset Management, 21(1), 32–51. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41260-019-00148-y
Kocmanova, A., Docekalova, M., Nemecek, P., & Simberova, I. (2011). Sustainability: Environmental, social and corporate governance performance in Czech SMEs. WMSCI 2011 - The 15th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, Proceedings, 1, 94–99. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84856996989&partnerID=40&md5=7f5e9114d75acd82418d42b3c5c14047
Krechovská, M., & Procházková, P. T. (2014). Sustainability and its integration into corporate governance focusing on corporate performance management and reporting. Procedia Engineering, 69, 1144–1151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2014.03.103
Kumar, A., King, T., & Ranta, M. (2024). Corporate governance characteristics and involvement in ESG activities: current trends and research directions. Corporate Governance 24 (8), 175–209. https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-09-2023-0397
Li, T. T., Wang, K., Sueyoshi, T., & Wang, D. D. (2021). ESG: Research progress and future prospects. Sustainability 13 (21). https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111663
OECD. (2021). OECD Economic Outlook.
Ozkan, S., Romagnoli, S., & Rossi, P. (2023). A novel approach to rating SMEs’ environmental performance: Bridging the ESG gap. Ecological Indicators, 157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.111151
Plastun, A., Makarenko, I., Khomutenko, L., Osetrova, O., & Shcherbakov, P. (2020). SDGs and ESG disclosure regulation: Is there an impact? Evidence from Top-50 world economies. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 18(2), 231–245. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.18(2).2020.20
PRI. (2021). What are the Principles for Responsible Investment? https://www.unpri.org/about-us/what-are-the-principles-for-responsible-investment
Puppim de Oliveira, J. A., & Jabbour, C. J. C. (2017). Environmental management, climate change, CSR, and governance in clusters of small firms in developing countries: Toward an integrated analytical framework. Business & Society, 56(1), 130–151. https://doi.org/10.1177/0007650315575470
PwC. (2023). Sustainability Count II - State of sustainability reporting in Asia Pacific. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/esg/asia-pac-esg/sustainability-counts-2023.pdf
Senadheera, S. S., Gregory, R., Rinklebe, J., Farrukh, M., Rhee, J. H., & Ok, Y. S. (2022). The development of research on environmental, social, and governance (ESG): A bibliometric analysis. Sustainable Environment, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/27658511.2022.2125869
Shalhoob, H., & Hussainey, K. (2023). Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Disclosure and the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Sustainability Performance. Sustainability, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010200
Sulistyaningsih, T., Loilatu, M. J., & Roziqin, A. (2024). Research trends on smart urban governance in Asia: a bibliometric analysis. Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, 15(5), 997–1015. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTPM-03-2022-0045
Tarmuji, I., Maelah, R., & Tarmuji, N. H. (2016). The Impact of Environmental, Social and Governance Practices (ESG) on Economic Performance: Evidence from ESG Score. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, 7(3), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijtef.2016.7.3.501
Tiep Le, T., & Nguyen, V. K. (2022). The impact of corporate governance on firms’ value in an emerging country: The mediating role of corporate social responsibility and organisational identification. Cogent Business and Management, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2021.2018907
van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2010). Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics, 84(2), 523–538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0146-3
Velte, P. (2017). Does ESG performance have an impact on financial performance? Evidence from Germany. Journal of Global Responsibility, 8(2), 169–178. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGR-11-2016-0029
Wang, S., & Esperança, J. P. (2023). Can digital transformation improve market and ESG performance? Evidence from Chinese SMEs. Journal of Cleaner Production, 419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137980
Yawika, M. K., & Handayani, S. (2019). The effect of ESG performance on economic performance in the high profile industry in Indonesia. Journal of Internatioinal Business and Econcomics, 7 (2), 112-121. https://doi.org/10.15640/jibe.v7n2a12
Yip, A. W. H., & Yu, W. Y. P. (2023). The Quality of Environmental KPI Disclosure in ESG Reporting for SMEs in Hong Kong. Sustainability, 15(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043634
Yoon, B., Lee, J. H., & Byun, R. (2018). Does ESG performance enhance firm value? Evidence from Korea. Sustainability, 10(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103635
Zhu, Q., Zou, F., & Zhang, P. (2019). The role of innovation for performance improvement through corporate social responsibility practices among small and medium-sized suppliers in China. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(2), 341–350. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1686
Zhu, W., Hu, X., Wu, Y., & Zhang, T. (2024). Relationship between SMEs’ ESG performance and value creation in China: the moderating role of government subsidies. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 30 (2).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Gina Harventy, A.H. Fatima, Fatimah Mat Yassin, Norsyahida Binti Mokhtar
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
License
Journal of Accounting and Investment is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
