Decoding the Dynamics of Sustainable Finance: Spillover, Risk, and Connectivity Through a Bibliometric Lens

Ke Peng, Muhammad Munir (), Jifan Ren and Mariem Mejri ()
Additional contact information
Ke Peng: School of Economics and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Muhammad Munir: School of Economics and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Jifan Ren: School of Economics and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Mariem Mejri: College of Business Administration, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh 12435, Saudi Arabia

IJFS, 2025, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-46

Abstract: The field of sustainable finance has grown rapidly in response to escalating climate and economic challenges, yet its intellectual landscape, especially the connectedness between green and traditional financial systems, remains underexplored. This paper aims to systematically map the evolution, thematic structure, and intellectual linkages of the sustainable finance literature with a specific focus on risk spillovers and connectedness across financial systems. This study employs a comprehensive bibliometric methodology to map 1261 Web of Science-indexed articles (1994–2024) on the connectedness of sustainable finance, using techniques such as citation analysis, bibliographic coupling, co-citation analysis, trend cartography, collaboration network, and keyword trend analysis. The study clarifies the field’s evolution and identifies its key themes, influential authors, institutions, and networks. The findings reveal an exponential surge in sustainable finance research after 2015, coinciding with policy milestones like the Paris Agreement and rising ESG investment interest. Notably, the review uncovers how research clusters have formed around topics such as green bond market spillovers, green technology innovation, and climate risk, highlighting both well-established areas and emerging fronts. The contribution lies in providing a roadmap for future research and policy: the study pinpoints knowledge gaps (e.g., systemic risk transmission between green and conventional assets) and suggests how policymakers and investors can leverage these insights to foster a resilient, sustainable financial system.

Keywords: sustainable finance; connectedness; bibliometric analysis; ESG; systematic risk; green investing; market dynamics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F2 F3 F41 F42 G1 G2 G3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/13/2/85/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/13/2/85/ (text/html)

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:gam:jijfss:v:13:y:2025:i:2:p:85-:d:1655423

Access Statistics for this article

IJFS is currently edited by Ms. Hannah Lu

More articles in IJFS from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().