Trends in Corporate Environmental Compliance Research: A Bibliometric Analysis (2004–2024)

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the global energy crisis and climate change, corporate environmental compliance has emerged as a key aspect of environmental regulation and a focal point of academic interest. It plays a crucial role in alleviating regulatory pressure, enabling green innovations, enhancing performance, and fostering sustainable development. Despite extensive research in the field, comprehensive reviews and bibliometric analyses remain scarce. To address this gap, this study meticulously analyzed 851 papers indexed in the WoS’s SSCI and SCI from 2004 to 2024. Using visualization tools like VOSviewer and CiteSpace, it conducted a multidimensional bibliometric analysis and systematic review, identifying core authors such as Aseem, Ntim, and Zeng, high-productivity countries including China, the USA, and the UK, and key journals like the Journal of Cleaner Production and Sustainability. Keyword co-occurrence and cluster analysis revealed central research themes of environmental information disclosure, innovation, and environmental management systems. Burst analysis highlighted emerging hot topics, notably ecological and green innovation, and the interplay between Total Factor Productivity and environmental regulations. Additionally, we identified several critical gaps in the field. For instance, research on corporate environmental governance mechanisms in the context of digital transformation remains insufficient. Furthermore, the effectiveness of multi-stakeholder collaborative governance frameworks requires ongoing investigation. Therefore, we encourage future researchers to focus on the following topics: digitization and environmental compliance, multi-stakeholder participation mechanisms, cost–benefit analysis of corporate environmental compliance, and the impact of political and regulatory environments on corporate environmental compliance.

1. Introduction

Corporate environmental compliance refers to an organization’s adherence to environmental laws, regulations, and standards, incorporating environmental considerations into its daily operations [1]. This practice aims to minimize negative impacts on the environment, thereby achieving sustainable business objectives. Over recent decades, environmental crises have become a global focus of social and political attention. Effective environmental protection requires diverse regulatory measures over the long term, rather than relying solely on a single environmental policy [2]. It calls for the implementation of environmental co-governance [3]. In this context, corporate compliance, a form of corporate self-regulation [4], has garnered significant attention in environmental governance. Today, companies worldwide are actively following environmental regulations set by governmental and non-governmental organizations. These regulations often require companies to establish a comprehensive internal environmental management system (EMS) to enhance ecological performance and regulatory compliance [5]. As a core aspect of social and political activities, corporate environmental compliance holds substantial significance. On the one hand, it helps companies balance the pursuit of profit with societal benefits [6], thereby optimizing their performance across societal, ecological, and financial operations [7]. On the other hand, environmental compliance is a key avenue for innovation in corporate social responsibility [8], promoting sustainable development of the environment and ecology [9].

Over the last 20 years, corporate environmental compliance has become a focal point across multiple fields including environmental science, sustainable development, and public environmental regulation. Thanks to the collective efforts of numerous scholars, significant advancements have been made in this area.

Within the broader context of sustainable development, environmental regulation has emerged as a critical pillar for enhancing corporate environmental compliance and its ongoing developmental benefits. Academia generally recognizes two main modes of environmental regulation: mandatory and cooperative [10]. Mandatory regulation, a stricter form of oversight [11], enforces legal requirements on corporations, including the issuance of public environmental policies, conducting environmental supervision, and penalizing non-compliance [12]. This regulatory approach is often grounded in institutional theory [13,14]. On the other hand, cooperative regulation adopts a gentler approach and emphasizes collaborative governance involving government and industry organizations [2,15]. This model primarily fosters innovation in environmental governance among corporations through financial and monetary incentives, such as research and development subsidies, environmental tax benefits, and green credits [16,17,18]. The effectiveness of different regulatory modes varies significantly due to factors such as political systems, social contexts, and types of businesses, resulting in notable disparities in regulatory performance [19].

In response to the increasingly severe effects of carbon emissions, global warming, and climate change, corporations are adopting modern and innovative solutions to environmental challenges. Investment in environmental technologies and compliance costs has become a key topic in driving technological innovation in the environment [20]. Additionally, the influence of information disclosure on corporate environmental technology and ecological innovation has attracted widespread attention from stakeholders [16,21,22,23]. This trend underscores the pivotal importance of openness in environmental governance and highlights the value of openness and integrity in promoting sustainable development in corporate environmental management.

From the perspective of private governance, stakeholder participation has become an effective mechanism to complement corporate environmental compliance regulation. Stakeholders involved in environmental governance include governments, investors, supply chain partners, institutions, employees, and the media. In this process, reputation mechanisms play a crucial intermediary role [24,25]. To ensure that stakeholders can effectively participate in environmental governance, corporations employ various strategies including environmental information disclosure (EID) [21], participation in Voluntary Environmental Programs (VEPs) [26], monitoring through social media [27], and signing Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives [28]. These approaches not only increase transparency but also strengthen the interaction and trust between corporations and external stakeholders.

This study acknowledges that the research framework for corporate environmental compliance has been continuously expanded and refined from multiple perspectives. However, the existing literature generally lacks a comprehensive and systematic review and analysis of this research area. This deficiency, to some extent, hinders researchers’ ability to fully understand the current state of corporate environmental compliance research and to further enrich, refine, and optimize the related research system. Moreover, existing limitations also affect researchers’ ability to track research progress, grasp core and hot research topics, and accurately position and plan subsequent research directions. To thoroughly understand the knowledge structure in the field of corporate environmental compliance, this study employs bibliometric methods to conduct a comprehensive and visual analysis of related research from 2004 to 2024, aiming to clarify and display the development trajectory, research progress, key issues, and hot topics in this field. This research focuses on the following three core questions:

• Q1: What is the distribution of productivity among authors and countries/regions in the field of corporate environmental compliance? Which major journals frequently publish research papers on corporate environmental compliance?
• Q2: What has been the development trend of corporate environmental compliance research over the past twenty years? What issues have been the focus?
• Q3: Based on the existing research and development trajectory, what are the future research frontiers in corporate environmental compliance?

The remainder of the content is as follows: Section 2 discusses the overall design of this study, systematically introducing the research methods, tools, and data collection process. Section 3 presents the general findings of the bibliometric analysis, summarizing the publication trends in the field of corporate environmental compliance over the past 20 years, including trends in disciplines, authorship, journals, institutions, and countries’ productivity, as well as highly cited literature. Section 4 elaborates on the thematic clustering and evolution analysis of corporate environmental compliance research based on keyword co-occurrence analysis. Section 5 analyzes emerging themes in this research field in recent years using keyword burst analysis. Finally, the study concludes by systematically presenting its findings, limitations, and suggestions for future work.

2. Materials and Methods

In this section, we detail the rationale for conducting a bibliometric analysis and the tools employed to assist in the analysis. Our data primarily come from the Web of Science Core Collection, ensuring the authority and scientific rigor of the data. Additionally, to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the literature obtained, we used the PRISMA framework for systematic screening.

2.1. Bibliometric Tools

To systematically, objectively, and comprehensively grasp the research agenda of corporate environmental compliance, this study employs bibliometric methods for analysis. Bibliometrics, a quantitative approach for analyzing bibliographic data [29], relies on extensive criteria to provide an overall synopsis of the research topic. Since the term “bibliometrics” was first introduced by the British scholar Pritchard in 1969, the field has become an independent discipline and has gradually gained a significant position in the quantitative analysis of scientific research [30]. Thanks to recent advancements in computer science technology, the integration of metric analysis with visualization techniques has become a prevailing research trend in this field. By using knowledge maps to display the results of metric analysis, this study aims to present research findings in a more intuitive and clear manner [31].

This study employs citation analysis to delve into the specific characteristics of the corporate environmental compliance theme and the impact of related fields on this topic [32]. Co-citation analysis, an important tool, measures the similarity between two articles by counting the frequency with which they are cited together, thus identifying the main research directions within a research area [33]. When multiple articles are commonly cited, they may form specific semantic clusters, revealing the main structure and research groups within the topic.

In selecting analysis tools, this study employs VOSviewer (version 1.6.20) and CiteSpace (version 6.3.R1) to construct knowledge maps from data spanning 2004 to 2024, sourced from the Web of Science (WoS) database, focusing on core papers within the theme of corporate environmental compliance. Using VOSviewer, the study performs statistical analyses on journals, authors, countries, and institutions to assess the scientific productivity in the field of corporate environmental compliance. It also implements co-occurrence analysis and clustering analysis of keywords [34]. CiteSpace is used for evolutionary analysis, applying set theory’s data normalization methods for similarity measurement, and plotting a Timezone view based on the analysis results. This visually displays the developmental trajectory and changes in research hotspots within corporate environmental compliance over time [35]. Additionally, the burst detection feature of this software is utilized to identify key issues currently garnering attention in the field of corporate environmental compliance, further deepening the understanding of the field’s developmental state and predicting future research trends.

2.2. Data Collection

The dataset for this study was constructed based on precise sources of data, search strategies, data processing techniques, and tools [32]. The WoS database was chosen as the primary data source due to its extensive database access and comprehensive information, facilitating bibliometric analysis, hence its widespread use in bibliometrics [36,37,38]. The data for this study include information from the SCI-Expanded and the SSCI within WoS. To ensure extensive data coverage, the study employed a specialized search expression. Additionally, the following criteria were set to filter preliminary data: (1) the literature search range was set from January 2004 to April 2024, with a cutoff date of April 19; (2) the document type was limited to “articles” to ensure that the selected literature underwent rigorous peer review [32]; and (3) the language of the documents was restricted to English to ensure the universality of the study. Based on these search conditions, a total of 2531 preliminary documents were retrieved. The initial screening results of the related data are shown in

Table 1. Summary of data source and selection.

Category	Specific Standard Requirements
Research Database	WoS Core Collection
Citation Indexes	SSCI and SCI-Expanded
Searching Period	January 2004 to April 2024
Language	English
Searching Strategy	TS = (environmental compliance* or environmental legitima* or environmental legal*) AND (environmental law$ or environmental regulation$ or environmental polic$ or environmental rule$ or environmental governance) AND (firm$ OR enterprise$ OR business* OR compan* OR corporation$)
Document Types	Articles
Sample Size	2531 (before screening)

The symbol “$” is used to denote zero or one character, and “*” represents any combination of characters.

.

2.3. Literature Screening

In the dataset obtained from direct retrieval, there may be entries that are duplicated or irrelevant to the research topic. To ensure the data quality does not compromise the analysis, preprocessing is necessary. This research adheres to the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses” (PRISMA) [39] for literature screening. The screening process is divided into four phases: “retrieval, preliminary filtering, selection, and integration”.

Firstly, the sample size was established according to the search outcomes. Secondly, 1023 non-research articles were excluded, including book reviews, corrections, editorial board materials, brief reports, news, conference abstracts, and reviews. Subsequently, each remaining article was scrutinized to eliminate those irrelevant to the research topic. The detailed process of this screening is depicted in Figure 1.

Through this rigorous screening process, we ensured that all selected literature focused on issues related to corporate environmental compliance. Ultimately, the study identified 851 articles that met the criteria for inclusion. Next, we will conduct a detailed performance analysis of 851 articles to identify influential journals, authors, countries, institutions, and key papers in this research field.

3. Performance Analysis: Productivity and Impact (RQ1)

This section primarily provides descriptive statistics on the overall development trends in the field of corporate environmental compliance research, including analyses of authors, countries, institutions, and journals. Additionally, it presents a visualization of the collaboration relationships between countries.

3.1. Time Trend of the Publications

The annual volume of published papers serves as a crucial measure of the developmental status across different research fields. Changes in annual publication volumes not only reflect the level of activity within a research field but also visually demonstrate the overall developmental trends of that area. This metric is significant for assessing the dynamics and growth of academic research, providing insights into how actively researchers are contributing to the expansion of knowledge in their respective fields.

Figure 2A illustrates the trend in yearly publication volumes in the field of corporate environmental compliance research from 2004 to 2024. Overall, the publication volume in this field has shown a steady upward trend, particularly since 2016 when the rate of growth significantly accelerated. Between 2020 and 2023, each year saw more than 60 publications, with the numbers in 2022 and 2023 surpassing 100 publications each. Observations from the first four months of 2024 suggest that the publication volume for this year may continue to increase. This trend indicates that the field of corporate environmental compliance is garnering broader academic interest and entering a phase of rapid development.

Figure 2B presents additional relevant statistical information, including the time period, number of publications, countries, institutions, number of authors, and citation data. Through the analysis of basic data using VOSviewer for selected literature, we identified 851 publications involving 1039 research institutions from 80 countries and regions, authored by 2112 authors. These publications appeared in 283 different journals and cited 38,543 references from 14,289 journals.

3.2. Discipline Distribution Analysis

The discipline composition, including the fundamental concepts and principles of scientific knowledge, not only forms the basis of academic fields but also shapes the knowledge background of researchers. Analyzing the foundational disciplines can elucidate the intrinsic connections between different fields and the developmental trends of research topics. This paper reviews the disciplinary distribution of collected papers and their references, exploring the primary disciplines focused upon in the current research area and revealing its disciplinary foundations. Using CiteSpace software’s “dual-overlay mapping” feature, a diagram illustrating the thematic co-occurrence network has been generated, as detailed in Figure 3. This analysis provides deep insights into the disciplinary structure and interdisciplinarity of the research field.

In Figure 3, the left area displays the citing journals, which are the journals where the source articles are published, reflecting the distribution of literature themes in the research field. The right area shows the cited journals, which represent the thematic distribution of the cited literature [40]. The curves in the middle represent citation links, illustrating the relationships between the papers in terms of citations. In the left diagram, the horizontal length of an ellipse correlates with the quantity of papers issued in each publication (the more papers, the longer the horizontal dimension), and the upright dimension of the oval corresponds to the count of authors (the more authors, the longer the vertical axis).

Figure 3 highlights the main areas of corporate compliance research, including economics, political science, and psychology, with some studies extending into education and health. These fields form the foundation of research into corporate environmental compliance, indicating that the research topics in this field are relatively concentrated and the academic knowledge structure is well-developed. Despite this, the field of corporate compliance still holds significant potential for further research expansion beyond mainstream topics.

3.3. Quantitative Analysis of the Authors

Analyzing the publication output of authors allows us to identify key academics and primary research drivers within a research domain. Price [41] posits that as a research domain matures, the output from prolific authors tends to account for about half of all contributions, with the number of these prolific authors approximately equal to the square root of the total number of contributors. This phenomenon is represented by the equation below:

$$\sum _{\mathrm{m}+1}^{\mathrm{I}}\mathrm{n}\left(\mathrm{x}\right)=\sqrt{\mathrm{N}}$$

In the formula, n(x) indicates the quantity of authors responsible for writing x papers, I = ${\mathrm{n}}_{\mathrm{m}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{x}}$ denotes the count of publications by the field’s most productive author (identified as 5 by VOSviewer), N represents the total count of authors, while m denotes the minimum publications attributed to key authors. As stipulated by Price’s Law, the threshold for key authors is calculated as m = 0.749 × $\sqrt{{\mathrm{n}}_{\mathrm{m}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{x}}}$ ≈ 1.06; thus, authors with two or more publications are classified as core contributors within the discipline. This analysis identified 191 core authors who collectively published 438 publications, representing 51.5% of all published works, aligning with Price’s standard that core authors should contribute to half (50%) of the publications. Substituting the above data into the formula confirms the prediction according to Price’s Law. Consequently, it is evident that the field of corporate environmental compliance has developed a stable group of collaborating authors.

Table 2. Core authors in the corporate environmental compliance field.

Rank	Author	Country	Institution	H-Index	Count	Citations	Citations per Paper
1	Prakash, Aseem	United States	University of Washington	38	7	509	72.71
2	Collins G. Ntim	United Kingdom	University of Southampton	41	6	523	87.17
3	Zeng, Huixiang	China	Central South University	18	5	124	24.8
4	Lo, Carlos Wing-Hung	China	Chinese University of Hong Kong	26	4	101	25.25
5	Liu, Ning	China	City University of Hong Kong	7	4	57	14.25
6	Potoski, Matthew	United States	University of California Santa Barbara	33	4	343	85.75
7	Kee-hung Lai	China	Hong Kong Polytechnic University	64	4	276	69
8	Arguedas, Carmen	Spain	Autonomous University of Madrid	8	4	44	11
9	Wei, Liu	China	Hunan University of Science & Technology	2	4	54	13.5
10	Daqian Shi	China	Wuhan University of Technology	11	4	85	21.25
11	Yao, Sheng	China	Shanghai University	3	4	18	4.5

catalogs the high-output researchers who have authored over four papers within the discipline, including their names, publication counts, citation numbers, and average citations per paper.

Table 2 indicates that Aseem, Ntim, and Zeng are the most prolific scholars in this research field. However, an analysis of citation counts reveals that Aseem and Ntim demonstrate more significant academic influence. Aseem [5] published five articles related to the topic, accumulating a cumulative 509 citations. His collaboration with Potoski is particularly notable; together they have explored issues such as cooperation and conflict in environmental governance, Voluntary Environmental Programs [42,43], and environmental governance based on the ISO 14001 [44] framework [45]. Ntim [46,47] has the highest average citation rate among all authors and has long been dedicated to studying corporate governance, environmental performance, and sustainability. He has conducted in-depth empirical analyses to examine the link connecting environmental governance with corporate performance.

3.4. Quantitative Analysis of Journals

This study has reviewed and analyzed journals involved in the literature over the past two decades, revealing that most papers are published in the fields of environmental science and business management, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of corporate environmental compliance research.

Table 3. Top 10 journals in the corporate environmental compliance field.

Rank	Journal Title	Count	Citations	H5-Index	JIF	Quartile	Publisher	Country
1	Journal of Cleaner Production	69	3612	246	11.1	1	Elsevier Ltd.	United States
2	Sustainability	59	671	185	3.9	2	MDPI	Switzerland
3	Business Strategy and the Environment	56	3038	105	13.4	1	Wiley-Blackwell	United States
4	Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management	30	2089	92	9.8	1	Wiley-Blackwell	United States
5	Environmental Science and Pollution Research	26	233	144	5.8	1	Springer Berlin Heidelberg	Germany
6	Journal of Business Ethics	25	3128	136	6.1	1	Springer Nature	Netherlands
7	Journal of Environmental Management	19	834	148	8.7	1	Academic Press Inc.	England
8	Environmental and Resource Economics	17	572	51	5.9	1	Springer Nature	Netherlands
9	Sustainability Accounting Management and Policy Journal	15	258	36	4.5	1	Emerald	England
10	Frontiers in Environmental Science	13	48	66	4.6	2	Frontiers Media S.A.	Switzerland

h5-index is the h-index for articles published in the last 5 complete years. It is the largest number h such that h articles published in 2018–2022 have at least h citations each; JIF stands for Journal Impact Factor, which is a metric used to assess the influence of a journal within its field of study.

displays the top ten journals by publication volume in this area. The Journal of Cleaner Production has published the most papers on corporate environmental compliance, totaling 69 articles, while Sustainability” and Business Strategy and the Environment have each published over 50 papers. These data indicate that research on corporate environmental compliance is not only closely related to environmental science but also deeply connected to sustainable development and business management policies.

Among all the journals, the Journal of Business Ethics has the highest average impact per published paper, having published 25 related studies during 2004–2024,which collectively received 3128 citations, averaging 125 citations per paper. This is the only journal where the average citations per paper exceed 100, demonstrating the high quality of the articles it publishes and its significant focus within the domain of corporate environmental compliance.

In the 1960s, with the launch of the Science Citation Index (SCI), the JIF was introduced as a crucial metric for assessing the quality, importance, and influence of journals on their respective fields [48,49]. Among the top ten journals by publication volume in this research field, eight are classified as Q1 level, including leading journals in their respective fields such as the Journal of Cleaner Production and Business Strategy and the Environment. This highlights the significant attention corporate environmental compliance research has received in authoritative publications in the fields of environmental science and business management in recent years, demonstrating a robust growth trend.

Among these journals, Sustainability and Frontiers in Environmental Science are open access (OA) journals. These two journals together account for 8.46% (72 out of 851) of the publications in the field of corporate environmental compliance, illustrating the swift expansion of open access publications in recent years and their positive role in advancing research in this area.

3.5. Quantitative Analysis of Countries and Institutions

This study analyzes 851 papers related to corporate environmental compliance, encompassing contributions from 80 countries and 1039 institutions. The publication volumes of countries and institutions are presented in Appendix A. China holds a significant lead, having published 317 papers that collectively received 6457 citations. The US and the UK follow, with 170 publications (11,553 citations) and 106 publications (4173 citations), respectively. Geographically, apart from China and Australia, the remaining countries are primarily located in Europe and North America. With the exception of China, all top ten nations are developed countries. This distribution highlights that the management of corporate environmental compliance is closely linked to a country’s economic and industrial foundation as well as the level of policy development.

Among various institutions, the University of Washington ranks first in total publications (14 papers), total citations (1900 times), and average citations per paper (135.71 times). This highlights its significant influence and outstanding research capabilities in the field of corporate environmental compliance. Of the top 10 institutions by publication volume, eight are from China, which aligns with the national publication volume data. This indicates that over the past 20 years, Chinese research institutions have maintained a high level of focus on corporate environmental compliance and have made substantial contributions to the field. However, in terms of overall citation rates, universities in Hong Kong generally exhibit higher citation impacts compared to those in mainland China.

Figure 4A displays the publication volume and collaboration relationships of the top 30 countries. The figure shows that the maximum number of publications is 317, while the minimum is 4. To further explore the publication volumes and collaboration intensity among various countries, this study employed a chord diagram for visualization. Chord diagrams consist of nodes distributed along a circle, with each node’s length proportional to the publication volume of that country (the longer the node, the greater the publication volume). The weighted arcs connecting two nodes, known as chords, represent the collaboration relationships between countries, with the width of the arc proportional to the closeness of the collaboration (the wider the arc, the closer the collaboration). Figure 4B displays the chord diagram showing the publication volumes and collaboration networks among countries. A deeper analysis of these relationships reveals that the leading countries in the field of corporate environmental compliance have established extensive collaboration networks. Notably, China, the US, and the UK not only lead in publication volume, but their collaborations are also particularly close. The patterns of international collaboration among these nations indicate a high level of globalization in academic exchanges within this field, demonstrating the extensive international cooperation in academic research.

3.6. Highly Cited Articles

Appendix B presents the top 20 highly cited papers in the field of corporate environmental compliance. Among them, Charles’s 2007 paper, “The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note”, holds the highest citation count and annual average citation count in this field. Elmagrhi’s 2019 paper, “A study of environmental policies and regulations, governance structures, and environmental performance: The role of female directors”, ranks second in annual average citations. Of the top 20 highly cited papers, 16 were published in JCR Q1 journals, and 11 were published in or before 2010. The highly cited papers published after 2010 mainly focus on issues such as green innovation (papers 4, 5, and 7), and environmental governance and performance (papers 5, 12, 15, 16, and 19).

After completing the performance analysis related to corporate environmental compliance research, we will proceed with keyword co-occurrence and clustering analysis. This will allow us to further explore the core research themes in this field and uncover the development patterns of these studies.

4. Keywords Analysis: Cluster and Evolution (RQ2)

This section primarily employs keyword co-occurrence and clustering analysis to elucidate three core research themes in corporate environmental compliance. Additionally, by constructing a timeline of keywords, it aims to illustrate the overall development of these research themes over the past 20 years.

4.1. Co-occurrence Analysis on Keywords

Keywords in research papers highlight the specific focus areas of a field and indicate research hotspots through the frequency of certain terms. Analyzing the co-occurrence relationships among these keywords reveals the development trends within the entire research field. Wei [50] and other scholars have pointed out that Price’s Law is not only applicable for analyzing core authors but can also be used to identify high-frequency keywords. According to their study, a threshold M = 0.749 × $\sqrt{{\mathrm{N}}_{\mathrm{m}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{x}}}$ (where ${\mathrm{N}}_{\mathrm{m}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{x}}$ denotes the maximum incidence of keyword appearances, which in this case is 155 as calculated using VOSviewer) results in M ≈ 9.32. Therefore, this study defines keywords that appear 10 times or more as high-frequency keywords. These keywords (n = 152) were subjected to a visual analysis, as shown in Figure 5. The left side of the figure presents a cluster analysis of the keywords, while the right side shows the trends of these keywords over time. In the keyword co-occurrence network, the node’s size positively correlated with the frequency of a keyword. The color of a node denotes different thematic categories. The lines between nodes illustrate the relationships between keywords and their corresponding weights. Each cluster includes multiple nodes, with shorter distances between nodes indicating stronger associations [51].

Figure 5A depicting the keyword co-occurrence analysis, reveals three main clusters. The red cluster focuses on EID and “sustainable development”, exploring the relationship between corporate transparency in environmental information and green sustainable growth. The core keyword in the green cluster is “innovation”, specifically pointing to “Green technology innovation”, a concept that involves improvements in corporate products and processes to minimize environmental impact [52]. The blue cluster centers around “environmental management system” and “performance”, emphasizing the analysis of how internal environmental compliance affects corporate performance. These clusters clearly define the key research themes and directions within the field of corporate environmental compliance.

Figure 5B displays the temporal trends of key research keywords in this field [53]. Before 2020, the focus was primarily on “corporate environmentalism” [54], examining mechanisms for controlling and penalizing environmental pollution [55,56], and the impact of environmental regulatory fines on corporate EID [57]. Additionally, significant attention was given to ISO14001 and corporate environmental system certifications [58,59]. After 2020, research shifted towards more diversified structural elements and governance approaches in corporate environmental compliance, such as corporate environmental reputation [60], EID, and ESG factors [23]. For example, studies have shown that the costs associated with the Environmental Protection Tax and the subsequent non-compliance costs not only encourage corporate ESG investments [61] but also prompt companies with lower market values and without environmental subsidies to disclose more information [62].

Table 4. Keyword clusters extracted from the VOSviewer.

Cluster	Main Keywords	Other Terms Related to the Keywords
1 (red)	environmental information disclosure	legitimacy, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, ESG, greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable development, financial performance
2 (green)	innovation	green credit policy, Porter Hypothesis, environmental innovation, technology, impact, pollution control, investment, media pressure
3 (blue)	environmental management system	performance, accountability, ISO 14001, institutional theory, self-regulation, sustainability, globalization, environmental policy, stakeholder engagement, supply chain

, created using VOSviewer software, organizes and displays the core keywords and their strongly associated terms within different clusters. This analysis helps to visually reveal the distribution of main research themes within the field of corporate environmental compliance. Next, this study will provide detailed explanations of the themes within each cluster, offering a deeper understanding of the dynamics and focal points of research in this area.

4.1.1. Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure

The core keyword in the red cluster is EID, a strategy in environmental management that plays a crucial role in promoting the greening of corporate responsibilities through communication with stakeholders [63]. Legitimacy theory is often used to explain corporate EID behaviors [64]. This theory posits that for a company to sustain its existence, it must conform to societal values and norms [65] and take actions to maintain its compliance image among stakeholders [66]. Legitimacy theory further elaborates that the extent of a company’s EID is closely linked to the public pressure it faces within a complex social and political environment [67]. This public pressure typically arises from the concerns from the social, organizations, or regulatory authorities [68], including social changes and regulatory effects [69]. Consequently, companies with poorer environmental performance often bear a greater responsibility for EID [67]. Companies highly sensitive to environmental issues may disclose symbolic soft or semi-hard information to influence stakeholders’ perceptions and avoid questions about their legitimacy [70]. In emerging economies, the challenges of harmonizing economic development with environmental conservation are often greater than in developed countries, making the effectiveness of EID a central focus in their environmental efforts [71].

EID is influenced by a variety of external factors, including environmental regulation, media pressure, and executive manipulation. Firstly, government regulation imposes pressure on firms to disclose the information. For instance, a study on Chinese-listed companies demonstrated that mandatory environmental regulation positively affects both financial and non-financial environmental disclosures in heavily polluted industries, with external governance and internal controls playing mediating roles [62]. However, not all regulatory pressures lead to proactive environmental disclosure. Research by Yao [72] found that in cities where local leaders manipulate GDP, companies tend to use unverifiable soft information for environmental disclosure. Additionally, a study by Li et al. [73] revealed that corporate executives might manipulate EID for their own purposes, such as using it to justify high salaries. This aligns with stakeholder theory, which suggests that the influence stakeholders have on a company often depends on the resources they control [74]. Media pressure also plays a significant role in affecting EID. For example, Deng [75] found that social media interactions between investors and highly polluting listed companies in China both mitigated information imbalances in financial markets and escalated market and regulatory pressures on management, thereby strengthening regulatory frameworks in EID.

4.1.2. Corporate Environmental Green Innovation

The green cluster centers on “innovation”, providing robust support for businesses aiming for low-carbon development by enhancing resource efficiency and transforming energy production methods. Environmental innovation focuses on reducing emissions of harmful substances and conserving resources by rethinking product lifecycles, and it has consistently been regarded as a potent method for enhancing corporate environmental performance [16]. Traditionally, pursuing excellent environmental performance was thought to require sacrificing economic benefits. However, according to the Porter Hypothesis (PH), thoughtfully crafted environmental standards can stimulate innovation, enhancing resource productivity and potentially offsetting some or even all costs associated with environmental compliance [76]. Put differently, environmental innovation is key to realizing a mutually beneficial scenario where both environmental outcomes and production expenses are enhanced.

Despite these benefits, businesses often show low enthusiasm for environmental innovation, primarily because they struggle to fully capitalize on the benefits due to the dual impact of innovation externalities and environmental externalities [77]. Additionally, investments in environmental innovation often involve long investment cycles and high uncertainty, which are seen as potentially detrimental to financial performance and adding friction to business development [78].

Environmental innovation often relies on external drivers for motivation, most commonly including environmental regulations, government oversight, and fiscal incentives [79]. For instance, green credit policies, as a form of environmental regulation, aim to guide banking loans towards environmentally friendly projects [80]. Empirical studies demonstrate that following the implementation of the Green Credit Guideline (GCG) in China, companies previously underperforming in environmental compliance made significant advancements in green technology innovation [81]. However, this policy is not sufficient to stimulate corporate green innovation (CGI) in all types of businesses, as research suggests that the GCG may, to some extent, suppress green technology innovation in heavily polluting industries [82].

To address this issue, official subsidy strategies can successfully counteract the adverse effects of the GCG, particularly by adjusting long-term bank lending in the field of environmental innovation [80]. Beyond administrative interventions, judicial approaches such as environmental courts also promote corporate environmental innovation by enhancing environmental regulations and boosting public awareness of environmental concerns [83]. Furthermore, studies indicate that digital development [84] and executive equity incentive plans [85] also positively impact CGI. These measures together form a diversified strategy to drive corporate environmental innovation, reflecting a comprehensive solution framework.

4.1.3. Corporate Environmental Management System

The core keyword in the blue cluster is EMS. Since the mid-1990s, numerous measures have encouraged businesses to self-regulate their environmental performance [86]. For instance, in the US, both federal and state authorities, along with industry groups and non-profits, have supported the implementation of voluntary EMSs across different tiers [87]. Since 2003, Australia has endorsed EMSs as a strategic framework for companies to handle related risks and adhere to regulatory standards [88]. More recently, Japan has also encouraged the adoption of EMSs to monitor and reduce the environmental impact of carbon dioxide emissions, resource usage, and waste production, viewing it as a means to enhance corporate environmental performance [89].

Within the academic sphere, the relationship between EMSs and environmental performance has sparked extensive debate [90,91,92], with the majority of studies indicating that an EMS has a positive impact on EP [43]. For example, research by Darnall and Irene has shown that companies that proactively adopt a more comprehensive EMS perform better in overall business performance than those implementing an EMS solely due to governmental pressure [93]. These findings support the adoption of an EMS as a successful approach for enhancing both environmental and corporate performance.

In the blue cluster, another prominent keyword is “self-regulation”, which stands in contrast to traditional “regulation” and represents a self-management model based on a soft law governance framework. In the current context emphasizing environmental co-governance, “self-regulation” is actively promoted as a regulatory mode. This is primarily because traditional mandatory legal regulations are not always effective in environmental governance, often hindered by political resistance, monitoring costs, and the absence of global authority [94]. As Nicole and others have noted, EMSs are often viewed as a corporate choice based on self-regulation, where businesses autonomously control their actions beyond legal requirements.

More specifically, EMSs often originate from VEPs. These programs, serving as mechanisms for environmental self-regulation, provide competitive incentives to enhance environmental performance, often exceeding statutory requirements [95]. VEPs include international EMS certifications such as ISO 14001 and codes of conduct like The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) [96]. These internationally recognizable standards offer a possible governance method for self-managing CSR within the global economic framework [97] while limiting the opportunities for companies to exploit differences in transnational government regulations [4].

ISO 14001, a frequently mentioned EMS standard within this cluster, sets clear requirements for a company’s environmental policy, including identifying environmental impacts related to its activities and compliance with legal and other requirements [98]. Studies indicate that third-party-verified EMSs can genuinely improve environmental performance [43]. However, a standardized EMS does not imply a one-size-fits-all approach. Research by Yin and colleagues demonstrates that although standardized management systems may appear similar on the surface, their implementation can vary significantly across different organizations, leading to varied environmental outcomes [99]. The UNGC, an international voluntary initiative, aims to encourage businesses to adopt CSR policies [100]. The program requires its members to submit an ESG report annually, through which investors can exert pressure on UNGC corporate participants, encouraging them to adhere more closely to the compact’s requirements and align their actions with their words [101].

As research progresses, the limitations of many mechanisms within VEPs have become increasingly apparent. For example, a study by Mallidis in 2024 highlighted that international standards like ISO and the UNGC negatively impact the regulation of the relationship between female directors and ESG [102]. Moreover, criticisms of the UNGC mainly focus on its voluntary nature and the absence of effective external monitoring and enforcement mechanisms [100,101]. These findings suggest that academic discussions about EMSs, self-regulation, and VEPs are becoming more diverse, rational, and dialectical. This trend reflects a deeper academic understanding of the complexities and limitations of these environmental governance tools and a more comprehensive and critical approach to evaluating their effectiveness.

4.2. Timeline Map of Keywords

To further explore the evolution of research in corporate environmental compliance, this section utilizes CiteSpace’s timeline feature to conduct a visual mapping analysis of keywords. Figure 6 displays the seven main clusters and their distribution of keywords by year. The clusters are numbered based on the quantity of keywords they contain, with a lower cluster number indicating a higher number of keywords. Additionally, the display of keywords employs a tree ring format, where the diameter of the rings visually indicates the occurrence rate of each keyword, and the varying shades of the rings reveal the research popularity of the keywords in different years. This visualization method not only clearly marks the importance of each keyword but also provides an in-depth view of the changes in popularity of these keywords over time, offering an intuitive perspective for understanding the development trends within this research field.

From Figure 6, it is evident that the topics of corporate environmental management and external regulation have been consistently receiving significant attention since 2015. With the continuous growth of the global economy, environmental challenges such as increased pollution and more severe climate change are intensifying [103]. In response to these adverse effects, governments worldwide have implemented a range of climate and environmental policies, placing widespread regulatory pressure on businesses to enhance their sustainable environmental management practices [104]. Additionally, numerous policy documents now require not only the disclosure of economic performance but also environmental information. Concurrently, businesses are adopting systems like ISO 14001 to implement self-regulation and demonstrate their commitment to environmental responsibility [4].

Since 2020, the emergence of keywords such as “environmental investment, communication, adverse selection, political connection, economic innovation, pollution reduction” reflects a shift towards a new consensus on environmental negotiation and cooperation. Businesses are moving from passively adhering to environmental regulations to actively investing in environmental protection and the development of green technologies. This shift underscores businesses’ proactive role in the sustainable development of environmental protection, marking a significant transition from passive compliance to active engagement.

Keyword clustering reveals that researchers have primarily focused on three core issues in past studies: Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure, Corporate Environmental Green Innovation, and Corporate Environmental Management Systems. Using CiteSpace’s timeline visualization of keywords, the analysis further illustrates the evolution of research in corporate environmental compliance. Since 2015, environmental management and external regulatory issues have consistently been under scrutiny. Starting from 2020, research on environmental negotiation and collaboration has begun to emerge prominently, marking a significant shift in corporate environmental compliance from passive compliance to active participation.

5. Hotspot Evolution Analysis of Burst Keywords (RQ3)

The emergence and development of keywords distinctly mirror changes in prominent themes within a research area. Using the burst detection feature of CiteSpace., this study identified the top 10 keywords with the highest burst strength in the domain of environmental compliance, as shown in

Table 5. The top 10 burst keywords.

Rank	Keywords	Year	Strength	Begin	End	2004–2024
1	Enforcement	2004	8.78	2004	2016	▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂
2	Self-Regulation	2005	10.28	2005	2014	▂▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂
3	ISO 14001	2006	8.84	2006	2017	▂▂▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▂▂▂▂▂▂▂
4	Environmental Management	2005	5.47	2013	2019	▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▂▂▂▂▂
5	Environmental Disclosure	2004	6.36	2018	2021	▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▃▃▃▃▂▂▂
6	Eco Innovation	2021	4.84	2021	2024	▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▃▃▃▃
7	Green Innovation	2013	6.9	2022	2024	▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▃▃▃
8	China	2018	5.51	2022	2024	▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▃▃▃
9	Productivity	2019	4.82	2022	2024	▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▃▃▃
10	Investment	2017	4.46	2022	2024	▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▃▃▃

The burst terms are visualized with different colored stripes: red stripes indicate a significant increase in the usage frequency of a keyword during a specific time period, signifying it as a burst term; light blue stripes represent relatively low usage frequency during the corresponding time period, indicating no significant change; and dark blue stripes denote high usage frequency that does not reach the burst level, or a previously high-frequency term that is decreasing over time.

. This figure illustrates the continual emergence of keywords from 2004 to 2024, indicating that the field has maintained high research interest all the time. However, the focus of research has varied noticeably over time.

Initially, the research primarily focused on the influence of policies on corporate environmental regulation models [5,105]. Various environmental policies have compelled businesses to adopt different management approaches. For instance, the term “Enforcement” became a highly focused keyword, reflecting the core idea of traditional environmental reform—that businesses need to adhere to direct regulatory constraints imposed by governments. Additionally, keywords such as “self-regulation”, “environmental management”, “ISO 14001”, and “environmental compliance” revealed the evolution of environmental regulatory measures and corporate governance concepts. Instead of passively adhering to environmental policy pressures, businesses have shown a preference for a cooperative regulatory model. Compared to mandatory regulation, self-regulation and cooperative regulatory approaches often yield greater environmental benefits [10]. Furthermore, self-regulation has a dual effect; such measures can exceed current legal requirements, continuously driving the improvement of corporate environmental standards [106,107].

Since 2020, the emergence of keywords has revealed two primary areas of focus in this research field:

The first area is ecological innovation and green innovation, which has been a hot topic since 2021 [26,99]. Su and associates [18] performed a quasi-natural experiment to analyze the green transformation of highly polluting Chinese companies, employing the DID approach. Their findings indicated that green tax policies have compelled these companies to engage in green technological innovations to protect the environment. Zhang and others [108] found that companies with D&O insurance showed significant improvements in CGI outcomes and levels of environmental investment. Additional studies have confirmed that voluntary environmental regulations, such as EID, positively impact CGI [22,23]. The mechanisms include alleviating information imbalance and reducing business financial limitations [22]. Further research indicates that digital transformation markedly improves both the quantity and quality of CGI [84], such as by increasing media visibility and lowering financing costs, thereby fostering substantial improvements in internal CGI [109].

The second focus is on the relationship between Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and environmental regulations, a topic that has maintained research interest from 2022 to the present [19,110,111]. This area boasts a wealth of empirical studies. For example, Shi et al. [112] analyzed the Daily Penalty Policy in Chongqing, demonstrating that continuous substantial fines for persistent violators can improve environmental quality and significantly enhance a firm’s TFP. Other research indicates that the SO₂ emissions trading system enhances TFP by encouraging technological progress and increasing desulfurization capabilities [113]. Huang and colleagues [114] found that Taiwanese firms operating in China, subject to environmental regulation policies, incur compliance costs, negatively impacting their Green Total Factor Productivity.

In the research domains of CGI and TFP, many scholars base their studies on the Porter Hypothesis, which has become a focal point in the field of environmental compliance in recent years as interest in this area has grown [112,115]. Much focus is on China, partly due to the recent implementation of its dual-carbon policy [116], the New Environmental Protection Law [27], and reforms to the environmental tax system [117]. These factors have intensified scrutiny on both external environmental regulations and internal environmental governance among Chinese enterprises.

6. Conclusions, Limitations, and Prospects

Based on the aforementioned detailed analyses, this section will provide comprehensive answers to the three research questions posed in the introduction. By reviewing the entire research process, we summarize the existing shortcomings. Additionally, based on the overall findings of the bibliometric analysis, we believe that the current research themes have potential for further expansion. Therefore, we propose four specific research directions to encourage future researchers to continue exploring this field.

6.1. Conclusions

Corporate environmental compliance continues to attract broad attention across multiple disciplines such as ecology, environmental science, economics, and political science, and remains a current hot topic in academia. Utilizing VOSviewer and CiteSpace software, this paper conducted a detailed analysis of research related to corporate environmental compliance from 2004 to 2024. By applying bibliometric methods, this research methodically examined the developmental trends in the field and closely analyzed key authors and nations with high productivity, key journals, and keyword clusters. Additionally, by constructing knowledge maps, this study summarized and organized both theoretical and empirical research in the field of corporate environmental compliance. Drawing on the findings from the bibliometric analysis, the study draws the following conclusions:

(1)

The field of corporate environmental compliance has entered a rapid development phase, especially against the backdrop of significant impacts from climate change, with the volume of publications reaching a peak. Core authors such as Aseem, Ntim, and Zeng have contributed extensively to the research in this area. China, the US, and the UK are the most productive countries, showcasing the vibrancy of international academic exchanges and reflecting a high degree of internationalization in academic research. Research related to corporate environmental compliance is primarily published in journals such as the Journal of Cleaner Production, Sustainability, Business Strategy and the Environment, and Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. Most of these journals belong to the fields of environmental science and business management and have high academic impact, providing excellent platforms for scholarly communication on corporate environmental compliance. Additionally, the rise of open access journals like Sustainability and Frontiers in Environmental Science has significantly boosted research interest in this field, becoming a powerful new force in the rapid growth of the literature.

(2)

Through keyword co-occurrence and cluster analysis, key theories in the field of corporate environmental compliance have been identified, including the Porter Hypothesis [76], Legitimacy Theory [64], Organizational Systems Theory [118], Institutional Theory [14], and Deterrence Theory [119]. The three core themes in this research area are EID, innovation, and EMSs.

(3)

Evolutionary analysis further indicates that due to factors such as climate change, there has been a rising interest in studies on Ecological Innovation and Green Innovation and the relationship between TFP and environmental regulations in recent years. Additionally, the volume of the literature on environmental compliance management among Chinese enterprises has continued to grow, significantly influenced by China’s dual-carbon policy, the implementation of the New Environmental Protection Law, and reforms to the environmental tax system. The development and changes in these research topics and theories reflect the dynamism of the field of corporate environmental compliance and its response to actual policy changes.

6.2. Limitations

In exploring the dynamics and development of the corporate environmental compliance field, this study faces certain limitations due to various objective factors. Firstly, due to the high standards required by bibliometric analysis software, this research only included journal articles indexed in the Web of Science’s SSCI and SCI databases, excluding other databases and non-journal publications such as conference papers and reviews. This selection may have overlooked some significant scientific research and unique insights within the field of corporate environmental compliance. Secondly, in conducting the bibliometric analysis, specific databases and keyword search strategies were utilized. Considering the varying coverage and indexing methods of different databases, the choice of database can impact the precision and inclusiveness of the search results. Thirdly, this study covers only publications since 2004, failing to include earlier literature, which limits the depth of historical exploration. Lastly, although professional software was used for quantitative bibliometric analysis to ensure objectivity, the analysis and interpretation of data inevitably carry some subjective bias, which cannot completely eliminate the impact of subjectivity on the results.

To address these limitations, future research plans will include expanding the range of the literature reviewed to more broadly explore research dynamics and emerging hot topics. Additionally, we plan to actively engage with experts and scholars in the field to gather more objective and cutting-edge insights, thereby minimizing the adverse effects of personal subjectivity on research analysis.

6.3. Future Research Directions

Through bibliometric and visual network analysis, this study has revealed the vigorous development of research in the field of corporate environmental compliance over the past two decades. Scholars have continuously broken away from traditional research perspectives to explore new dimensions. Despite these advancements, there are still significant gaps and weaknesses in several key aspects of the field. For example, there is insufficient research on corporate environmental governance mechanisms in the context of digital transformation. Moreover, under the framework of environmental co-governance, further research and discussion are needed on how to design pathways for government and broader stakeholder involvement in corporate environmental compliance governance. Exploring these topics is crucial for developing more effective environmental policies and corporate strategies, as it helps all parties better understand and address the new challenges encountered in a rapidly changing technological and policy environment.

In the concluding section of this paper, based on extensive reading and organization of the related literature, the following recommendations are proposed to inspire and encourage more researchers to engage deeply in the field of corporate environmental compliance, thereby further expanding the depth and breadth of research in this area:

(1)

Research on digitization and environmental compliance: With the rapid advancement of technology, the use of digital tools and data analysis to support environmental protection compliance has become increasingly important in recent years, drawing significant scholarly attention. Scholars have proposed that digital transformation can help companies overcome resource barriers and promote green innovation in corporate environmental governance [120]. In terms of supply chain environmental management, as interdependencies among companies grow, firms are not only obligated to fulfill their own societal and environmental responsibilities but also to address social and ecological issues within the actions of their suppliers and secondary suppliers. Addressing challenges to enhance transparency, traceability, and compliance with standards in supply chain environmental governance necessitates a deeper exploration of the roles of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain in monitoring and reporting supplier environmental information [121]. At the governmental and societal oversight level, Digital Government Transformation (DGT) represents a significant reform towards modern governance, providing new models for managing corporate environmental pollution and advancing sustainable development goals [122]. In the digital age, the evolution of media into digital platforms has further enhanced its role in overseeing and prompting corporate environmental compliance governance [123]. The comprehensive and profound impact of digital development on social progress underscores the need for scholars to further expand research on the relationship between digitization and corporate environmental compliance. Such research not only enhances our understanding of current environmental compliance mechanisms but also introduces innovative methods to enhance corporate environmental governance.

(2)

Research on multi-stakeholder participation mechanisms: Faced with increasingly severe environmental issues, corporate environmental compliance governance is evolving towards a governance model involving multiple stakeholders. Within the framework of government, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and the public participating together in environmental governance, there is a need for comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the responsibilities, roles, and interaction modes of each stakeholder in the environmental compliance process, focusing on how collaborative efforts can achieve environmental goals. For instance, ongoing attention should be given to the design and assessment of environmental impact indicators for multiple stakeholders [124]. In recent years, Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives (MSIs) have emerged as private governance mechanisms [125]. They play a crucial role in managing global business activities and their social and environmental consequences, aiming to enhance the social and environmental sustainability of global supply chains. However, MSIs face various challenges in practice, such as limited participation from marginalized stakeholders, subjective biases towards corporate interests, and insufficient effectiveness in their role as regulatory bodies [28]. Future research should focus on deepening discussions on the effectiveness of MSIs. For example, studying how to enhance the involvement of weaker stakeholders in decision-making processes and optimizing their participation levels could significantly improve the governance outcomes [126]. Research on these topics contributes to a thorough analysis of stakeholder participation in corporate environmental compliance governance processes and the potential synergistic effects of their collaboration.

(3)

Cost–benefit analysis of corporate environmental compliance: Considering the considerations of corporate governance costs, discussions on environmental compliance should not overlook its economic aspects. Existing research has highlighted the role of compliance in enhancing economic benefits and social value for businesses [127,128,129]. However, this area of research remains underrepresented in the overall research landscape, underscoring the continued significance of addressing this issue. Furthermore, only a few scholars have delved into how external pressures from legal, social, and economic dimensions, as well as internal policies and corporate culture, influence cost–benefit analyses at the individual level, and have systematically explored the balance between corporate environmental compliance and over-compliance [130]. Future research should focus on a deeper analysis of the economic impacts of implementing environmental compliance strategies, including costs, savings, and long-term benefits. Additionally, studies should examine economic incentives and potential returns for companies adopting proactive environmental strategies, providing economic rationale for advancing environmental measures. Moreover, attention should be given to the series of impacts that over-compliance may have on companies and industries.

(4)

Impact of political and regulatory environments on corporate environmental compliance: Through bibliometric analysis, we have found that the existing research primarily focuses on the influence of domestic political and regulatory environments on corporate environmental compliance strategies, encompassing aspects such as environmental performance, environmental disclosure, and environmental investments [131,132,133]. In recent years, with ongoing adjustments in international political climates and regulatory frameworks, the environmental strategies and behaviors of multinational corporations have also been correspondingly affected. Scholars are increasingly examining the interplay between environmental governance and international political and regulatory environments, including the impact of globalization on the environmental performance of multinational corporations [134], and the linkages between environmental regulatory intensity and foreign direct investment [135]. In future research, it would be beneficial to delve deeper into the specific impacts of different political and legal environments on corporate environmental compliance policies. Additionally, studying how companies adjust their environmental compliance strategies in response to changes in political climates would be insightful.