Corporate Governance and ESG Research, 1976–2025: A Systematic Review and Science Mapping, with an International Comparative Research Agenda

Abstract

Purpose: This study maps the intellectual structure of corporate governance (CG) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) research between 1976 and 2025, identifies the conditional mechanisms through which governance affects firm outcomes across institutional settings, and derives a comparative research agenda for transition and resource-dependent economies, using Mongolia as a focal case. Design/Methodology/Approach: Following the PRISMA 2020 protocol, the review employs a three-tier corpus architecture. A mapping corpus of ⟨D1⟩ indexed records retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, Dimensions and EBSCO Business Source is analysed with dedicated bibliometric software (Bibliometrix/biblioshiny in R and VOSviewer) to generate co-authorship networks, keyword co-occurrence maps, co-citation and bibliographic-coupling clusters, and thematic-evolution trajectories. A stratified depth-coded corpus of ⟨D2⟩ works is then coded manually on six dimensions — journal ranking, citation impact, region, methodology, variable selection and theoretical foundation — by two independent coders (Cohen’s κ = ⟨D4⟩). A separately reported supplementary tier of ⟨D3⟩ Mongolian grey and local-language sources supports the country-level gap analysis and is excluded from all citation-impact metrics. Findings: Agency theory remains the dominant primary framework (37.9% of depth-coded studies), but stakeholder, institutional, resource-dependence and legitimacy theories have grown rapidly since 2018, and 13.8% of studies now combine two or more frameworks explicitly. Panel regression remains the leading method (50.7% of method codes), while quasi-experimental designs (PSM+DiD, event studies, natural experiments) are expanding. The empirical frontier has shifted from the United States and Western Europe toward emerging and frontier markets, which jointly exceed 40% of the corpus. Science mapping confirms ⟨D11⟩ distinct thematic clusters and a keyword trajectory moving from board structure–agency cost toward ESG disclosure–assurance–sustainability committee. Mongolia-focused research reveals a formal legal framework with weak enforcement, a narrow set of measurement constructs, and very limited presence in the international citation network. Conclusion: CG research is shifting from a single-theory paradigm toward multi-theory, ESG-oriented frameworks that require credible causal identification. Governance effects are conditional on legal origin, ownership concentration and enforcement capacity, so evidence generated in developed markets cannot be transferred uncritically to transition economies. Practical Implications: The findings inform securities regulators, stock exchanges and listed firms in transition and resource-dependent economies — and in Mongolia specifically — on the design of audit and sustainability committees, ESG disclosure rules aligned with GRI and IFRS S1/S2, and resource-governance transparency mechanisms. Originality: The study combines PRISMA-based systematic screening with software-based science mapping, and it is the first review to position Mongolia explicitly within a comparative class of transition, resource-dependent, thin-market economies rather than treating it as an isolated national case.