Extant research emphasizes that corporate governance (CG) significantly influences environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes. This paper undertakes a content analysis and reviews 91 academic articles published in 41 journals over the past 14 years (2010-2023). We examine the role of CG in ESG outcomes by focusing on CG themes, ESG indicators, theories, countries, and empirical methodologies used to address endogeneity. The findings show that several factors collectively impact ESG outcomes positively. Such factors include female directors, institutional investors, independent directors, CEO characteristics, directors' compensation, and sustainability committees. Relatedly, the findings also suggest that family ownership may potentially exert a detrimental effect on ESG performance. Despite the burgeoning evidence on CG and ESG outcomes, we highlight several understudied areas, such as directors' ESG expertise in specific ESG-related sectors and CEO tenure. Furthermore, we call for more research focusing on non-financial firms, particularly in European countries. Given the current studies' reliance on archival methodologies, we encourage future research to adopt diverse approaches, such as qualitative and mixed research methods. Finally, we discuss several research avenues, identify gaps in the literature, and outline a future research agenda.

中文翻译：

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公司治理和 ESG 研究的文献综述：新兴趋势和未来方向


现有研究强调，公司治理 （CG） 显着影响环境、社会和治理 （ESG） 结果。本文进行了内容分析，并回顾了过去 14 年（2010-2023 年）在 41 种期刊上发表的 91 篇学术文章。我们通过关注 CG 主题、ESG 指标、理论、国家和用于解决内生性问题的实证方法来研究 CG 在 ESG 结果中的作用。研究结果表明，几个因素共同对 ESG 结果产生积极影响。这些因素包括女性董事、机构投资者、独立董事、首席执行官特征、董事薪酬和可持续发展委员会。与此相关的是，研究结果还表明，家族所有权可能会对 ESG 绩效产生不利影响。尽管关于 CG 和 ESG 结果的证据不断涌现，但我们强调了几个研究不足的领域，例如董事在特定 ESG 相关领域的 ESG 专业知识和首席执行官任期。此外，我们呼吁对非金融公司进行更多研究，尤其是欧洲国家。鉴于当前研究依赖于档案方法，我们鼓励未来的研究采用不同的方法，例如定性和混合研究方法。最后，我们讨论了几种研究途径，确定了文献中的空白，并概述了未来的研究议程。