Analyzing the Interconnection Between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Criteria and Corporate Corruption: Revealing the Significant Impact of Greenwashing

Eleni Poiriazi, Georgia Zournatzidou (), George Konteos and Nikolaos Sariannidis
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Eleni Poiriazi: Department of Business Administration, University of Western Macedonia, GR51 100 Grevena, Greece
Georgia Zournatzidou: Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Western Macedonia, GR50 100 Kozani, Greece
George Konteos: Department of Business Administration, University of Western Macedonia, GR51 100 Grevena, Greece
Nikolaos Sariannidis: Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Western Macedonia, GR50 100 Kozani, Greece

Administrative Sciences, 2025, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: Greenwashing undermines the trustworthiness and integrity of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting. It undermines disclosure quality, confuses decision making, destabilizes financial markets, and reduces the probability that people will trust the supplied information. This research utilizes a comprehensive literature review and bibliometric analysis to investigate the scholarly dialogue around ESG disclosure and strategies to counteract corporate “greenwashing”. This study’s objectives were achieved by bibliometric analysis, using the statistical programming tools R Studio R 3.6.0 +, Biblioshiny 4.2.0 , and VOSviewer 1.6.20. We acquired bibliometric data from the Scopus database for the period 2012–2024. We established the optimal sample size via the PRISMA methodology, including both inclusion and exclusion criteria. Greenwashing is a multifaceted issue that manifests in many forms, shapes, and intensities, as seen by the data. This obstructs the advancement of apparatus for prevention, quantification, and detection. Moreover, the results indicate that sustainable finance is adversely affected by greenwashing, particularly for green loans and green bonds. Moreover, the findings indicate that corporate greenwashing is a distinct kind of greenwashing.

Keywords: greenwashing; green bonds; corporate corruption; fraud risk; ESG (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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