As the institutional environment becomes increasingly complex, firms are confronted with intertwined and conflicting institutional logics in their ESG practices. Understanding and effectively addressing these challenges has emerged as a critical issue. Traditional institutional theories often focus on single institutional logics, underestimating the impact of institutional complexity and failing to adequately explain corporate ESG behavior choices in a complex institutional environment. The nature of institutional complexity faced by firms and the ESG strategies they adopt have gradually become prominent topics in academic research. Therefore, this paper systematically reviews relevant literature published in the WOS and CNKI databases from 1990 to 2024, elucidating the concept of institutional complexity encountered in corporate ESG practices and summarizing the triple effect of “fundamental logic–interwoven logics–field characteristic superposition”. Based on these findings, this paper further analyzes corporate ESG strategies in a complex institutional environment, constructs a research framework for corporate ESG practices under institutional complexity, and proposes future research directions. The study extends the application of institutional complexity theory in the ESG field and provides valuable insights for firms to address challenges arising from institutional complexity.

Foreign Economics & Management
JIN Yuying, Editor-in-Chief
ZhengChunrong, Vice Executive Editor-in-Chief
YinHuifang HeXiaogang LiuJianguo, Vice Editor-in-Chief
Corporate ESG Practices under Institutional Complexity: A Review and Prospects
Foreign Economics & Management Vol. 47, Issue 04, pp. 21 - 39 (2025) DOI:10.16538/j.cnki.fem.20241128.203
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Wang Tao, Luo Kaifan, Yu Chao. Corporate ESG Practices under Institutional Complexity: A Review and Prospects[J]. Foreign Economics & Management, 2025, 47(4): 21-39.
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