Sustainable finance and institutional performance: A bibliometric analysis and systematic review

This study investigates the impact of sustainable finance on the triple-bottom-line performance (environmental, social, and financial) of financial institutions, addressing theoretical perspectives like resource-based, stakeholder, signaling, and agency theories. It aims to clarify sustainable finance's broader implications by critically analyzing existing literature in this emerging field. The study combines a bibliometric analysis of 638 articles from Scopus and Web of Science (using Biblioshiny and VOSviewer) with a systematic review of 50 key articles based on the PRISMA framework. This approach enables the identification of research trends, collaboration networks, and key themes in sustainable finance, with a focus on how these practices affect institutional performance. The bibliometric analysis reveals rapid growth in sustainable finance research, particularly since 2015, but also highlights limited collaboration among researchers and stakeholders. Key themes include sustainability, green finance, institutional performance, and emerging trends in green innovation. The systematic review indicates that sustainable finance practices enhance institutions’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes, financial stability, and profitability. These practices foster corporate social responsibility (CSR), advanced technologies, and governance mechanisms, which, in turn, improve accountability, transparency, efficiency, risk management, and resilience. Additionally, they support green projects, contributing to emission reductions. This paper fills a significant gap by offering a conceptual model that outlines key internal and external drivers encouraging financial institutions to adopt sustainable practices. This model provides valuable insights for policymakers, regulators, and executives on leveraging sustainability for competitive advantage and improved institutional performance. • Reviews 638 articles to assess sustainable finance’s role in institutional performance. • Explores sustainable finance through resource-based, stakeholder, signaling, and agency theories. • Maps themes, collaboration networks, and trends using Biblioshiny and VOSviewer. • Shows how sustainable finance improves ESG, financial stability, and social responsibility. • Proposes a model of internal and external drivers shaping sustainable finance adoption.