Mapping the Global Landscape of ESG Ratings Research:A Bibliometric Analysis of Hotspots, Trends, and Future Directions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66635/exratd02Keywords:
ESG Ratings, ESG Score, Responsible Investment with ESG, Investors, Investment, ESG Regulations, Bibliometric Analysis, Hotspots on ESG Ratings, Research Trends on ESG Ratings, VOSviewerAbstract
ESG, an acronym that has gained considerable attention and prevalence in recent years, has prompted significant changes in the operational landscape of businesses. Furthermore, with the introduction of recent regulatory modifications, ESG Ratings/Score has emerged as a crucial gauge for organizations. The imposition of obligatory ESR reporting mandates for enterprises has also led the investor community to consider ESG Ratings as a principal performance metric in their assessment of firms and in their decision-making processes across diverse industries. This investigation conducts an analysis of paper-level metrics in the literature pertaining to ESG Ratings with the aim of outlining a research agenda that delineates current focal points and emerging trends. Leveraging a dataset encompassing more than 2000 papers on ESG Ratings from the Scopus Collection database dating from 2020 onwards, VOSviewer is utilized to present a comprehensive bibliometric assessment encompassing publication pattern, citation structures, author affiliations, institutional affiliations, geographic distributions, journal repositories, and key terminologies related to this thematic domain. Moreover, the study outlines the underlying philosophy of the ESG ratings system, the various determinants impacting ESG ratings, the consequential influence of ESG ratings, and the correlation between ESG ratings and the investor community as significant areas of scholarly investigation. Additionally, three emerging research directions are elucidated: investigation into the influencing factors and economic implications of ESG ratings within emerging markets, in-depth analysis of the mechanism by which ESG ratings affect the capital market, and further exploration of ESG reporting disclosure and ESG ratings. Our research contributes to the advancement of ESG ratings theory and offers fresh avenues for scholars and professionals in responding to newly implemented regulations on ESG reporting.
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