A Literature Review of Environmental, Social, and Governance

Linxuan Wang, S. N. Abdullah, Jason See Toh, Mengjie Sun, Zhiqiang Yang and Ke Li

GBP Proceedings Series, 2025, vol. 10, issue None, 21-28

Abstract: In order to provide a structured understanding of the relationships between ESG factors, corporate performance, and other important aspects, this literature review focuses on the empirical evidence of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). Several empirical studies have examined the environmental dimension, analyzing how corporate environmental initiatives, such as carbon emissions reduction and sustainable resource use, impact long-term business success. The findings indicate that, although initial investments in environmental protection may seem expensive, they can eventually result in improved operational efficiency, reduced regulatory risks, and enhanced brand image, all of which can improve financial performance. In terms of the social component, studies have looked into topics including customer satisfaction, community relations, and staff well-being. Strong social performance businesses—such as those that provide decent working conditions and actively participate in local communities—have been shown to draw in more devoted clients and staff, which increases business competitiveness. Studies in the governance area have looked at how board composition, openness, and moral leadership affect the application of ESG. In order to successfully incorporate ESG strategies into corporate decision-making processes and guarantee that the company's activities are in line with ESG objectives, a high-quality governance framework is considered to be essential. Overall, the analyzed empirical data shows that ESG elements have a major impact on business financial performance, risk management, and long-term sustainability in addition to being important from a moral and ethical standpoint. The consistency of ESG assessment and the difficulty of separating the direct impacts of ESG on different business outcomes, however, continue to be obstacles. To solve these problems and expand on our knowledge of the relationship between business performance and ESG, more study is required.

Keywords: ESG; empirical evidence; environmental dimension; social dimension; governance dimension; corporate performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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