Exploring the Research Landscape of Impact Investing and Sustainable Finance: A Bibliometric Review

Saurav Chandra Talukder (), Zoltán Lakner and Ágoston Temesi
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Saurav Chandra Talukder: Doctoral School of Economic and Regional Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Pater Karoly Street 1, 2100 Godollo, Hungary
Zoltán Lakner: Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Villányi Str. 29-43, 1118 Budapest, Hungary
Ágoston Temesi: Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Villányi Str. 29-43, 1118 Budapest, Hungary

JRFM, 2025, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-37

Abstract: Impact investing and sustainable finance are crucial in addressing social and environmental issues while developing a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world. The purpose of this article is to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the existing literature on the impact investing and sustainable finance research domain. Using PRISMA protocol, data was extracted from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, resulting in the compilation of 498 documents. Researchers use Biblioshiny and VOSviewer to analyze the bibliographic meta data. The findings show that the number of publications in this field has increased significantly over the last five years. In terms of journal productivity, Sustainability is the most prominent source, followed by Resources Policy and Journal of Cleaner Production. The results indicate that China published 189 articles, securing the first position, followed by India with 82 articles and the UK with 72 articles. Thematic map analysis underscores the significance of impact investing in renewable energy for sustainable economic growth. In addition, four research themes have emerged from the co-occurrence of keywords analysis. These themes are “sustainable finance for sustainable economic development”; “the rise of ESG investing in the changing world”; “corporate governance and CSR in enhancing firm performance”; and “mobilizing sustainable finance to tackle climate changes”. Furthermore, the research gives a complete summary of current research trends, future research directions and policy recommendations to assist academic researchers, investors, policymakers, business organizations and financial institutions in better understanding the impact investment and sustainable finance.

Keywords: impact investment; sustainable finance; ESG financing; climate change mitigation; social finance; bibliometric review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C E F2 F3 G (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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