ESG global trends: A comparative analysis of China and the international community

Meng Qi and Wenjing Fang

Economic Analysis and Policy, 2025, vol. 87, issue C, 2330-2345

Abstract: The global community is increasingly prioritizing environmental sustainability, with numerous enterprises adopting ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) strategies to align their operations with green development. However, the current global research on ESG remains fragmented, marked by disparities and growing tensions among nations. This study conducts a bibliometric analysis of 4,047 publicly available articles from the Web of Science (WoS) published between 2012 and 2024, utilizing SPSS, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer. Additionally, it incorporates a comparative analysis of 935 articles from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). The findings reveal that China and the United States lead significantly in research output, yet their respective stages of ESG research differ markedly. The study also highlights a lack of interdisciplinary linkages in ESG research, with notable homogenization observed within the field. In China, the evolution of ESG-related knowledge has diversified over time, shifting from initial focus areas like investment to broader themes such as fiduciary duty and information disclosure. Given the existing research gaps and insufficient exploration of certain aspects, future studies should put forward practical response strategies to strengthen ESG regulation, and explore more comprehensive assessment methods to improve ESG capabilities.

Keywords: ESG; Sustainability; Bibliometric analysis; ESG regulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0313592625003418
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:87:y:2025:i:c:p:2330-2345

DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.08.021

Access Statistics for this article

Economic Analysis and Policy is currently edited by Clevo Wilson

More articles in Economic Analysis and Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().