Research ideas tagged “esg”

Islamic finance and the green transition

Islamic banking, Islamic finance and sukuk appear on 65 recent papers, but only 16 of them carry a green, sustainability, ESG or climate keyword. Green sukuk issuance has grown in the Gulf and Southeast Asia. Is Sharia-compliant finance a natural fit for sustainable investment, or just another label?

What China's green patent boom actually invents

Green innovation is one of the largest topics in the finance and economics journals, much of it counting the green patents of Chinese firms. Only 10 of 641 recent papers on it carry a patent-quality, citation or novelty keyword. Is the boom in green patents a boom in green technology?

Papers in the last 30 days — green innovation: 25 · green patents: 2

Sustainability-linked loans: do the targets bite?

Green credit and green loans appear on 58 recent papers, most of them about China's green credit policy, while sustainability-linked loans, whose interest rate moves with the borrower's ESG targets, appear on only 3. Are the targets ambitious, are they met, and does the rate step actually change behaviour?

Papers in the last 30 days — green loans: 1 · green credit: 3

Social enterprises when the money gets tight

Social enterprises, social entrepreneurship and hybrid organizations appear on 41 recent papers, mostly in management, and the topic is fading, with 7 papers in the last quarter against about 10 per quarter before. Grant funding and impact investment have shrunk. Which social enterprises survive without them, and do certified B Corporations behave differently from the rest?

Papers in the last 30 days — social enterprises: 1 · social entrepreneurship: 3

Is biodiversity risk priced?

Sustainable investment is rising across the tracked journals, and biodiversity risk has become a finance keyword. Yet few of these papers carry a keyword about returns, bonds or the cost of capital. Do markets price firms' exposure to nature loss, and has nature-related disclosure changed that?

Papers in the last 30 days — biodiversity risk: 3 · sustainable investment: 2

Greenwashing as the gap between talk and emissions

Greenwashing is one of the fastest-growing keywords in the finance journals, yet few papers measure it against emissions. Scored as the gap between what firms say about climate and what their emissions do, does greenwashing fool ESG raters, lenders or investors?

Papers in the last 30 days — greenwashing: 4 · ESG ratings: 9

ESG investing under political backlash

ESG investing appears on 56 recent papers in the finance journals, but only 3 of 81 papers on responsible investing carry a backlash, political or polarization keyword. Several US states now restrict ESG in public funds, and some asset managers have stopped using the label. Did fund flows, fees and holdings change?

Papers in the last 30 days — ESG investing: 8 · political polarization: 3

The first reports under the EU sustainability directive

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive appears on 9 recent papers and double materiality on 3, while sustainability reporting as a whole appears on 57. The first reports under the directive were published in 2025, and the rules were then scaled back. What did the first wave disclose, and what did the rollback remove?

Papers in the last 30 days — sustainability reporting: 4

Did corporate purpose statements change anything?

Stakeholder theory appears on 88 recent papers in the management and finance journals, but corporate purpose on 4 and stakeholder capitalism on 2. Hundreds of large firms signed statements putting stakeholders before shareholders in 2019. Several years on, did the signatories treat workers, suppliers and communities differently?

Papers in the last 30 days — stakeholder theory: 7

Supply chain contracts that cut Scope 3 emissions

Supply chain coordination is growing in the operations research journals, along with emissions trading and carbon pricing. For most firms, the Scope 3 emissions of their supply chains dwarf their own, yet "Scope 3 emissions" appears on only 9 recent papers. Which contracts get suppliers to decarbonize, and who pays?

Papers in the last 30 days — supply chain coordination: 12 · Scope 3 emissions: 1

Mandatory climate disclosure, three ways

Climate risk disclosure appears on 19 recent papers, carbon disclosure on 10 and TCFD on 7; only 14 of 53 climate-disclosure papers carry a mandate, rule or regulation keyword. The US SEC rule was stayed, California's law survived, and the ISSB standards are being adopted by dozens of countries. Which regime changes what firms report, and what investors do with it?

Papers in the last 30 days — climate risk disclosure: 1

Circular textiles and the fast fashion they compete with

The textile and apparel industries, fashion retail and fast fashion appear on dozens of recent papers across the AI, management and operations research journals, and 18 of them carry a circular, recycling, waste or resale keyword. The EU will require separate textile collection and producer responsibility. Can collection, sorting and recycling be made to pay, and does resale cut new production?

Papers in the last 30 days — fast fashion: 1 · apparel industry: 1

Which carbon credits are real?

Carbon credits and offsetting appear on 22 recent papers, with 9 in the last quarter against about 4 per quarter before, but only 3 carry a quality, additionality, integrity or greenwashing keyword. After investigations found that many forest credits avoided no emissions, the market shrank and new integrity labels appeared. Do buyers now pay for quality?

Who checks the sustainability reports?

Sustainability reporting appears on 57 recent papers, but assurance of those reports on far fewer: "ESG assurance" on 6, "external assurance" on 3, and the topic is rising. A global assurance standard took effect in 2026. Does assurance make reported emissions more accurate, and who should provide it?

Papers in the last 30 days — sustainability reporting: 4