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Management research and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): a bibliometric investigation and systematic review

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Simone Pizzi at University of Salento
Simone Pizzi
Andrea Caputo at University of Trento and University of Lincoln
Andrea Caputo
  • University of Trento and University of Lincoln
Antonio Corvino at Università of Foggia
Antonio Corvino
  • Università of Foggia
Andrea Venturelli at University of Salento
Andrea Venturelli
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Abstract

The comprehension of the businesses' impact to sustainable development requires consideration of the different factors that affect firms' behavior, such as corporate governance, non-financial regulation, and the external environment. The contribution of business and management scholars to the discussion surrounding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their impact for business organizations has grown exponentially in the last years. This review systematically examines, through bibliometric and systematic literature review methods, the scientific knowledge about SDGs and the business sector, analyzing (after fine-tuning) 266 articles published in leading journals between 2012 and 2019. The results reveal the existence of four research themes: technological innovation (cluster 1), firms' contributions in developing countries (cluster 2), non-financial reporting (cluster 3), and education for SDGs (cluster 4). The main insights from the analysis of the papers are discussed, future research directions and practical implications for the field of study are provided.
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Management research and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): a bibliometric
investigation and systematic review
Simone Pizzi, Andrea Caputo, Antonio Corvino, Andrea Venturelli
Paper published in Journal of Cleaner Production
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124033
Abstract
The comprehension of the businesses’ impact to sustainable development requires consideration
of the different factors that affect firms’ behavior, such as corporate governance, non-financial
regulation, and the external environment. The contribution of business and management scholars to
the discussion surrounding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their impact for business
organizations has grown exponentially in the last years. This review systematically examines, through
bibliometric and systematic literature review methods, the scientific knowledge about SDGs and the
business sector, analyzing (after fine-tuning) 266 articles published in leading journals between 2012
and 2019. The results reveal the existence of four research themes: technological innovation (cluster
1), firms’ contributions in developing countries (cluster 2), non-financial reporting (cluster 3), and
education for SDGs (cluster 4). The main insights from the analysis of the papers are discussed, future
research directions and practical implications for the field of study are provided.
Keywords: SDGs, literature review, bibliometric, strategy, VOSViewer, sustainability
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... 'Vosviewer' is a powerful data analysis software to perform and visualize bibliographic analysis through mapping and clustering of scientific works. It is widely deployed in a wide range of systematic review and bibliometric analysis studies, including in the fields of management and the environment [32,33]. The collection of bibliographic data is essential for an accurate depiction of the academic landscape. ...
... Scopus provides comprehensive data of bibliographic information such as reference, country, keyword, DOI, and abstract, having been frequently employed for systematic reviews. It has been recommended and proven to be useful in previous studies as it comprehensively presents detailed bibliographic information [27,33]. However, the WoS database is not as comprehensive as the Scopus database since the WoS database has a narrower coverage of data. ...
... Scopus is particularly well suited for mapping smaller, under-researched fields due to its broader coverage such as start-ups sustainability [35]. Given these advantages of Scopus, previous studies have utilized Scopus data exclusively for systematic reviews of small and under-researched fields [30,33]. Therefore, Scopus data was selected as our analysis data. ...
Unpacking sustainability in start-ups: a systematic review and research agenda
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2025
In recent years, sustainability has gained much attention in the international environment, and introducing new products, processes, or practices for a sustainable future has become a key strategy for businesses. Start-ups have become a vital platform for introducing innovative businesses for sustainability, leading to a growing body of empirical research on sustainable start-ups. This study aims to identify the topics that have received major academic attention in sustainable start-ups and provides suggestions for possible directions for future research. For this purpose, we employed a bibliometric network analysis, identifying the trends and gaps in the existing stream of sustainable start-ups literature, suggesting future directions based on our findings. The existing literatures were focused on the following themes: entrepreneurship, business model and strategy, and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Based on these findings, the study makes the following contributions. First, we reveal the lack of research methods and theories used to explain sustainable start-ups. Second, research on external actors, especially the importance of government support, has been overlooked. Third, the role of sustainable start-ups in the circular economy has been under-researched given its importance. Finally, we suggest that adopting a life-cycle perspective is essential for understanding the mechanisms by which start-ups achieve sustainable performance.
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... For this reason, the analysis period was set from 2010 to 2021, comprising 364 corporate reports divided into two periods: P1 (2010-2015) and P2 (2016-2021). This division allows for comparisons across equivalent durations and is justified by the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, marking a significant shift in corporate policies and strategies toward sustainability [88]. The tourism sector, in particular, has been identified as one of the most engaged in regards to this initiative [89]. ...
CSR and Corporate Sustainability: Theoretical and Empirical Approaches Based on Data Science in Spanish Tourism Companies
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2025
This study combines a theoretical and empirical approach to analyze the transition from corporate social responsibility to corporate sustainability in Spanish tourism companies, with an emphasis on the integration of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria. In the theoretical domain, a computational literature review is conducted by applying topic modeling to 1505 scientific documents published between 2004 and 2023, identifying key trends and evaluating the evolution from CSR to CS. In the empirical domain, 364 corporate reports published between 2010 and 2021 are analyzed, using text mining techniques to examine changes in the relative frequency of terms associated with CSR and CS, and the BERTopic model to detect key management areas. Additionally, the FinBERT model classifies the content of the reports into nine ESG categories, quantifying their relevance across different tourism subsectors. The results confirm a progressive transition towards CS, evidenced by shifts in thematic priorities reflected in the literature and a significant increase in the use of terms associated with CS in corporate reports. The research provides valuable insights for managers, regulators, and local communities, enabling the design of strategies better aligned with ESG standards, optimizing business management, and strengthening sustainability in the Spanish tourism sector.
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... We used mixed citations for bibliometric analysis. Bibliographic incorporation that uses a number of references shared by both documents as a measure of comparison (Grandjean et al., 2011;Pizzi et al., 2020), common occurrences to understand the pattern of the underlying document set (Zhang et al., 2017), co-authoring, which helps in examining the social structure of the research field (Nobanee et al., 2021), and joint citations, which can help in determining the conceptual structure of the research topic (Jalal, 2019). We conducted a co-occurrence analysis of keywords, co-authoring analysis of influential authors and country distribution, co-citation analysis of cited sources, analysis of document and organizational citations, and analysis of co-citation reference networks in sustainability and risk management. ...
Risk Management and Sustainability Performance Research Map: A comprehensive Bibliometric analysis
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2025
Purpose – This study aims to investigate research trends and patterns in the field of risk management and sustainability performance using bibliometric analysis methods.Methodology/approach – By utilizing the Scopus database from 2000- 2024, we collect data from relevant articles and conduct analysis of keywords, authors, journals, and institutional affiliates. To address this issue, our critical review examined 677 articles discussing research on risk management and sustainability. The analysis tools used for bibliometric analysis are Biblioshiny and Vos Viewer.Findings – The results of the analysis show that there are eight main clusters covering various related aspects, such as corporate sustainability, supply chain management, environmental management, disaster risk management, credit risk management and green economy, business competition, decision management, and sustainable entrepreneurship. Each cluster is analyzed in depth to identify the contribution and relationship between the variables involved.Novelty/value – These findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the current research landscape and point to potential directions for future research in the field of risk management and sustainability. This research also emphasizes the importance of a cross- disciplinary approach in addressing global sustainability challenges
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Evolution of Corporate Accountability for Biodiversity Reporting. Do Stakeholder Capitalism and Institutional Context Matter? A Bibliometric Analysis
Article
  • Apr 2025
This article aims to systematize and structure research on biodiversity accounting. We identify the main current areas and dynamics of biodiversity accounting. Therefore, we explore how stakeholder capitalism can contribute to corporate commitments to biodiversity conservation. We also examine how the institutional context plays a role in these commitments. Finally, we analyze how these factors can contribute to global governance to achieve SDGs 14 and 15. We used a mixed‐methods analysis by research synthesis. A bibliometric analysis was performed following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta‐Analyses) protocol to search and select scientific contributions to be analyzed. Citation analysis is used to map current research fronts. In addition, a bibliographic coupling is performed to identify connection networks in the current literature. We review a sample of 163 studies from the Academic Journal Guide (AJG). We identify research activities on biodiversity accounting between 1993 and early 2023. We used BibExcel and Gephi software packages to perform a scientific mapping analysis based on co‐word bibliographic networks. The R package Bibliometrix is used to perform an algorithmic historiography. The empirical results show the current state of the art on biodiversity accounting and suggest new research trends. Our results are also intuitive, as biodiversity conservation accounting is undoubtedly at the center of global policy discussions. We find from this meta‐analysis that differences in biodiversity accounting practices are due to the wide variety of institutions that have become entrenched over time. This article enriches the current state of the art. It also identifies important themes in the biodiversity accounting literature. This offers valuable theoretical and practical perspectives.
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Nexus between financial development and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). European Union perspective
Article
  • Apr 2025
In environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk conditions, implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) becomes a key priority. This involves not only direct financing but also establishing a support system through sustainable financial products and services, supported by the development of financial markets, especially in terms of sustainability. Financial development varies across countries, prompting an examination of the relationship between the SDGs and financial development in the European Union countries. 27 countries were studied from 2008 to 2021 using the Financial Development Index (FDI) and 55 indicators from the SDGs database. Panel data analysis was conducted, utilizing geostatistics and econometrics, including the cartogram method, descriptive statistics, dynamics, relative growth indicators, and panel unit root tests. The analysis revealed that financial development expressed by the immediate and delayed FDI is the Granger cause of shaping the SDGs. The most robust relationships were diagnosed for FDI and SDG2, SDG5, SDG8, SDG11, SDG12, and SDG16. The article makes an original contribution to research because, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no similar research on FDI and SDGs has been conducted so far, and the research results may constitute a basis for authorities influencing FDI and SDGs. First published online 02 April 2025
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Extreme weather events in New Zealand: Financial market-related impacts
Article
  • Mar 2025
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate extreme weather event (EWE) financial impacts on New Zealand investors. Design/methodology/approach This study analyzes trends in extreme rain, wind, temperature, snow, and convective events (thunderstorms) and conducts an event study of the share market impacts of those events. Findings This paper documents relatively stable distributions of EWEs in New Zealand over the past several decades. NZ EWEs bear only limited resemblance to conventional measures of climate change. NZX50 share prices are mostly insensitive to EWEs. Research limitations/implications The muted financial response of investors to NZ EWEs has implications for the mandatory disclosure of climate-related physical risks. Additional public disclosure of extreme weather risks may not improve stock market efficiency if investors may have already factored in much of the EWE physical risks into share market prices. Practical implications This study offers relevant findings for investors and asset managers interested in adjusting their portfolios based on EWE risks. Social implications This study raises questions about whether rules for mandatory climate-related disclosure of local EWE risks in New Zealand will improve investor decision-making and further global sustainable development goals. Originality/value This study examines a novel EWE data set assembled and curated by experts at New Zealand’s MetService to study EWE financial impacts in New Zealand.
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Transition of Food Systems Business Models and Sustainable Performance: The Story of a Family Firm
Chapter
  • Mar 2025
The aim of this work is to present a horizontal analysis of an interesting case study in order to explain the increase of awareness on sustainability issues, over time, inside the company, and how and when this has had an impact on enhancing ESG performance and stakeholder engagement in the ecological transition process. Moreover, this evolution is analysed through the trend of financial performances of the whole company trying to identify if there is an impact on financial performances as well. The work falls within the research strand of accounting for sustainability and, in particular, within the gaps in the literature on the lack of studies that investigate in deep how the increasing of sustainability consciousness could increase the ESG performance and then the financial one. The case study focused on a family firm that produces grain and its derivatives in the north of Italy. The research activity is based on official document analysis and website’s examination. The selected case represents a best practice in the food industry as over the years the company has integrated its supply chain downstream and promoted a diversification of activities away from the original feed business, also including start-ups and corporate research laboratories.
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A Literature Analysis of Sustainability Reporting Quality
Article
  • Mar 2025
The research aims to map the status of the sustainability reporting quality (SRQ) field through a systematic literature review, highlighting its factors, exploring the theories on which sustainability reporting quality studies are based and identifying new research trends. Based on the concept of quality as compliance with the reporting principles, the research was conducted through a systematic literature network analysis (SLNA) method, combining systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric network analysis (BNA) methodologies. We analysed 325 papers published from 1990 to 2024 through VOSviewer and R‐studio Bibliometrix package and extracted from the Scopus database. The results of the analysis detailed the leading papers and journals and discussed the four theme clusters identified through the keywords co‐occurrence analysis: assurance, content in different sectors, corporate governance and stakeholders engagement, and sustainability regulation; highlighted also the main future research and put forward the main theories in the field under study. The results of the study have implications for academia, providing a wide state of the research about the SRQ, for the policymakers and regulators, highlighting criticism, need and lacks, and for the management, allowing them to know the best practices for drawing up a high‐quality sustainability reporting. The SRQ has to be improved for the right sustainability management, to correctly inform stakeholders and to contribute to sustainable development.
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Systematic Review of Sustainable-Development-Goal Deployment in Business Schools
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2020
In 2015, more than 190 countries pledged to meet by 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030 that aim to ensure sustainable global social and economic development, and to strengthen universal peace. Public institutions, businesses, organizations and individuals are all called upon to contribute to this challenge. Focusing on business schools (BSs), and the potential impact they have on graduates, we ask what they are doing for the deployment of these objectives. To this end, we conducted a systematic review of the literature related to SDGs and business schools in the WOS, SCOPUS and ERIC databases. A multi-stage exclusion process resulted in 16 documents for review. The findings of this study provide key information on the role that business schools have to play in achieving SDGs and the ways in which they can be incorporated into their activity: from more in-depth actions linked to creating awareness, questioning current paradigms, fostering cooperation and interdisciplinarity with stakeholders, and working on coherence; to more specific interventions such as creating student associations, incorporating new teaching methodologies or increasing students’ participation in extracurricular activities. In addition, this study also allows us to identify gaps in the literature, giving ideas on necessary future lines of research.
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Academic engagement in policy-making and social and environmental reporting
Article
Full-text available
  • Jul 2019
Purpose This paper aims to document and discuss the involvement of a group of Spanish academics in the process of social and environmental reporting regulation to reflect on the role of accounting academics in regulatory processes. Design/methodology/approach The paper describes the long-standing engagement of a group of Spanish scholars in social and environmental reporting regulation, with a particular focus on the transposition of the EU Directive 2014/95/EU on non-financial information to the Spanish legislation. Findings Despite failures and mistakes in the engagement history of those scholars with different regulatory processes, academics problematized social and environmental reporting regulation, bridged the gap between regulation and practice, and facilitated the debate about social and environmental reporting. This long-term and collective engagement generated the intellectual capital that allowed researchers to provide their perspectives when the Spanish political process was ripe to move such regulation in a progressive direction. Practical implications The paper remarks two important aspects that, according to the reported experience, are required for academics to engage in social and environmental reporting regulation: developing long-standing research projects that enable the accumulation of intellectual capital to effectively intervene in regulatory processes when the opportunity arises; and nurturing epistemic communities seeking to promote corporate accountability was fundamental to circulate ideas and foster the connection between academics and policymakers. This long-term and collective perspective is at odds with current forms of research assessment. Social implications Academics have a responsibility to intervene in regulatory processes to increase corporate transparency. Originality/value The experience reported is unique and the authors have first-hand information. It spans through two decades and extracts some conclusions that could feed further discussions about engagement and, hopefully, encourage scholars to develop significant research projects.
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What makes a good coordinator for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals?
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2019
  • J CLEAN PROD
Member nations that signed up to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals agenda designated a coordinator to promote meaningful participation of the ministries. This study applies the concepts from responsive regulation to policy coordination. The framework provides four types of responsiveness, supporting the analysis of 53 interviews in Finland, Germany and Czech Republic. It was found that they were minimalists at heart, and therefore would do just enough (pyramidal), care from a distance (meta), and influence through the peers (networked). They would control matters that are more procedural and temporary (e.g. inter-ministerial working groups) and not those more substantive and permanent (e.g. setting of performance targets). Moreover, the centre of government rather than the individual ministries is most suitable for responsive coordination due to its perceived neutrality. The whole-of-government strategy on sustainable development is the result of artful coordination that is responsive and neutral. Future research might explore when would responsiveness and neutrality in coordination cease to be beneficial.
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Education of sustainable development goals through students’ active engagement: A transformative learning experience
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2019
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss and present new teaching techniques to advance the concept and the practice of education for sustainable development (SD). Due to the recently introduced 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and owing their interlinkages and targets, an evolution of the traditional teaching techniques is needed. Design/methodology/approach With the use of a single revelatory case study, this paper presents an example of education for SD goals activity carried out at the University of Torino, focussed on merging SD with the active engagement of students. Findings The empowerment of students happens through a transformative learning experience grounded in the acquisition of managerial soft skills useful in co-creating and co-designing projects to contribute towards SDGs effectively. Practical implications The ultimate goal is to support students to become active citizens in their communities (e.g. starting within the University). Social implications Students learnt about SDGs and the complexities of sustainability, and, at the same time, they learnt valuable tools to contribute to their transformation to develop projects for the benefit of local territories and organizations. Originality/value The paper showcases how transformative learning could be applied to SDGs. Awarded as one of the best practices regarding SD by the Italian Network of Universities for Sustainable Development, the case involves students in a transdisciplinary, creative and open learning environment.
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Infrastructure procurement capacity gaps in Nigeria public sector institutions
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2019
Purpose The achievement of sustainable development goals is linked to the procurement of public infrastructure in a manner that meets key procurement objectives, such as sustainability, value-for-money, transparency and accountability. At the heart of achieving these procurement objectives and others is the capacity of public procurement institutions. Whereas previous reports have hinted that there are deficiencies in procurement capacity in Nigeria, insights regarding critical aspects of organisational capacity deficiencies among different tiers of government agencies is limited. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the critical gaps in the procurement capacity of state and local government agencies involved in the procurement of public infrastructure in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The study employed a survey of public infrastructure procurement personnel which yielded 288 responses. Findings Among 23 operationalised items that are related to organisational procurement capacity, none is perceived to be adequate by the procurement personnel. Additionally, among 14 procurement objectives only 1 is perceived as being attained to at least a high extent. Originality/value The findings underscore the acuteness of organisational procurement capacity weaknesses among public procurement institutions within Nigeria’s governance structure. It is, thus, imperative for policy makers within state and local government to formulate, resource and implement procurement capacity building initiatives/programmes to address these deficiencies. Additionally, the organisational procurement capacity items operationalised in this study could serve as a useful blueprint for studying capacity deficiencies among public infrastructure procurement agencies in other developing countries, especially within sub-Saharan Africa where several countries have been implementing public procurement reforms.
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Accounting to ensure healthy lives. Critical perspective from the Italian National Healthcare System
Article
  • Feb 2020
  • Corp Govern
This paper aims at contributing to the debate regarding the implementation of SDGs’ reporting systems by public entities. For this purpose, we analysed the Italian National Healthcare Systems (INHS) to highlight how, even if in presence of best practices, Public Managers are not oriented to adopt these tools to engage with stakeholders. The present study evaluates the degree of contribution to SDG3 by INHS through the adoption of the theoretical framework proposed by Beck et al. (2010). Specifically, we assess the degree of contribution to this goal using an interpretive content analysis that combines the theoretical framework, as shown above, with the 13 targets that composed the SDG3. For our purposes, we analyse all INHS’s website to evaluate the presence/absence of social reports produced in the periods between 2015-2018. The study finds that the INHS even if in the presence of a great contribution to the achievement of SDG3 is characterized by a low degree of attention paid by public managers to social reporting. In fact, only 12,21% of INHS’s entities disclosed at least one or more social reports during the analysed period. Moreover, our results denote how the approach of INHS’s entities to social reporting is different in term of information’s quality and quantity. The absence of a common reporting standard imposed to adopt an interpretative content analysis. In this sense, we adopted a theoretical framework to evaluate the real contribution paid by entities to topics related to SDG3. The paper is of use to public managers operating in countries characterized by a high level of contribution to SDGs. Specifically, our results suggest how the adoption of reporting tools could impact positively in term of stakeholder’s awareness to SDG themes. This paper contributes to the understanding of the central role covered by academics, practitioners and public sectors to SDGs through the adoption of social reporting tools.
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The role of comparative city policy data in assessing progress toward the urban SDG targets
Article
  • Dec 2019
  • CITIES
As part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, all countries have agreed to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. We argue that there is a critical need for large-scale comparative city policy data that, when linked with outcome data, could be used to identify where policies are working and where they could be improved. In an assessment of the landscape of existing city policy data, based on a comprehensive scoping review, we find that existing databases are insufficient for the purposes of comparative analysis. We then describe what an “ideal” city policy database would look like, where it could be housed, and how it could be developed. Such a database could be a key tool for achieving SDG 11, the urban Sustainable Development Goal.
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Inside the borders but outside the box: An immersion program aligned with the PRME and the SDG to foster reflexivity
Article
  • Nov 2019
How can reflexivity be fostered among future managers? This article presents the dynamics and impacts of an immersion program used by a business management and public administration school based in São Paulo, Brazil, for 13 years. Every year, students conduct research for 20–30 days on public, social, and private organizations, coordinating projects focused on economic and social development and promoting citizenship. These projects occur in poor regions far from the largest urban centers in Brazil. After visiting areas and situations within the country's borders that are unknown to them, the students bring their experiences back to the classroom to be analyzed, recorded, and shared. We evaluated the impact of this program on the participants and observed the following: prejudices and stereotypes were reconsidered; a richer and more complex view of reality was achieved; and new ways of acting in the world were adopted. We argue that immersion in social projects fosters reflexivity, and we encourage fellow educators to consider adopting transdisciplinary programs of this type as a teaching strategy to educate reflexive managers and to prepare them for work and life.
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The process of selecting and prioritising corporate sustainability issues: Insights for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
Article
  • Jul 2019
  • J CLEAN PROD
The Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 17 wide ranging goals that articulates the desired outcome of sustainable development. The private sector is a key factor in achieving these goals through actions of corporate sustainability. However, there is a paucity of research regarding the application of Sustainable Development Goals at the firm level and it remains unclear how the private sector can operationalise and achieve the goals through corporate sustainability. While every Sustainable Development Goal is deemed of equal importance, it is up to individual firms to interpret and prioritise their implementation. Using a case study approach, this paper identified the specific goals considered by Japanese manufacturing multinational enterprises as a priority when establishing or significantly expanding operations in developing countries. The methodology employed allowed the retrospective analysis of corporate sustainability data through a Sustainable Development Goal lens. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 58 respondents from 16 sample firms operating in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The results show the multinational enterprises in the sample focus on a particular set of Sustainable Development Goals when establishing, or significantly expanding, subsidiary operations in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The findings show policy makers in the host countries should ensure Sustainable Development Goals such as education and strong institutions are in place to attract multinational enterprises to their shores. Other stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations and the community were also seen to influence the prioritisation of certain goals considered by firms.
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A Framework for the Practice of Corporate Environmental Responsibility in China
Article
  • Jun 2019
  • J CLEAN PROD
The achievement of the environmental sustainable development goals (SDGs) mainly lies with national governments, who play a crucial role in internalising environmental externalities within their countries. As a supplement to governmental intervention, corporate environmental responsibility (CER) practice will help correct environmental externalities and, thus, contribute to the implementation of national environmental plans. Therefore, a framework is needed that shows the drivers for a firm to pursue CER practice, while also demonstrating the organisational journey a firm needs to take towards environmental sustainability. However, most existing CER frameworks are based on free market mechanisms; therefore, they are not fully applicable in mixed economies due to the different institutional contexts. This paper contributes to the CER literature by providing a general framework for CER research applicable to both free-market and mixed economies, using multiple lenses that incorporate institutional theory, stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory and environmental externality theory. Based on a Chinese and English literature review of CER issues in China, this paper incorporates the findings of Chinese indigenous research and provides an extended framework for the Chinese context. Thus, the extended framework adds to the Chinese CER literature by synthesising influential factors on CER practice and performance, which in turn provides a conceptual model for policy makers to promote national environmental champions at a micro level, for example, the implementation of China's SDG 2030 Agenda. In addition, the construction of the Chinese CER framework illustrates how the general framework can be modified for a mixed economy where the institutional supports for CER are significantly different from those in a free market economy.
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