Sustainable Supply Chain Finance: Evolution, Developments and Proposed Future Agenda

Abstract

Sustainable supply chain finance (SSCF) has recently gained research momentum due to its link with multi-disciplinary subject areas of environmental, economic, and social, which are aligned with sustainability to benefit the whole supply chain (SC) network. However, this alignment requires an extensive literature review and bibliometric analysis to link the financial prospects with the diversified fields and highlight the underpinning area for further investigation. The current study has conducted a bibliometric analysis to visualize the knowledge structures and latest developments in the SSCF field. It delineates a thorough literature review of the scientific publications related to the topic. This paper used bibliometric and network analysis of the SSCF-related literature extracted from the Scopus database covering the time domain of 2009-2023. It examined the evolution process, connected theories, and analyzed the relevant review articles. It also explained the knowledge structure and reported the key contributing authors, publications, sources, institutions, and countries. The research reported the future trends and research themes through network analysis and found seven clusters: (1) conceptualization & exploration of SSCF, (2) social dimension of SSCF, (3) framework for financial service provider, (4) economic dimension of SSCF, (5) environmental dimension of SSCF, (6) integrated approach of SSCF, (7) risk assessment & management for SSCF scholars for further research in the field.