Mapping the ESG–Firm Value Relationship: Bibliometric Evidence and a Theoretical Synthesis of Value-Relevance Mechanisms

HRMARS - Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) has become central to corporate strategy, sustainable finance, and capital-market research, yet evidence on whether and how ESG translates into firm value remains mixed. This study maps the structure and evolution of ESG–firm value research from 2004 to 2024 by combining bibliometric analysis with theory-informed thematic synthesis. Based on 1,380 records from the Web of Science Core Collection, CiteSpace was used to examine publication trends, citation structures, keyword co-occurrence, clustering, and burst keywords, while SciMAT was applied to trace thematic overlap, evolution pathways, and strategic positions across four periods. The results show a sharp rise in publications after 2020, but the field has not fragmented. Instead, it has developed around a stable outcome-oriented backbone centred on firm value, financial performance, and related corporate outcomes. The explanatory focus has shifted from early ESG/CSR–performance association testing toward disclosure credibility, information environments, governance conditions, and institutional context. Four thematic blocks are identified: theoretical foundations, disclosure and information credibility, economic consequences and mechanisms, and contextual extensions. Emerging themes such as digital transformation and green innovation suggest growing attention to ESG information systems, monitoring capacity, and substantive channels of long-term value creation. The study shows that ESG–firm value research has evolved through core continuity and incremental diversification. It further suggests that future research should distinguish disclosure intensity from substantive ESG performance and integrate credibility, governance capacity, and institutional constraints into a unified explanatory chain.