Business Strategy and the Environment· 2026Q1· Review
Theories and Theoretical Approaches in Double Materiality Research: A Systematic Literature Review
- 0citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
A systematic review of 77 articles reveals that 85% of double materiality research applies existing theories rather than extending or building new ones, with Stakeholder, Institutional, and Legitimacy theories being dominant.
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Key points
- 85% of double materiality research applies existing theories, with limited extension or building of new ones.
- Stakeholder, Institutional, and Legitimacy theories account for 60.2% of all theoretical applications.
- The literature is heavily concentrated in Europe.
- The review analyzed 77 peer-reviewed articles published between 2019 and July 2026.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
ABSTRACT Double materiality has rapidly emerged as a central construct in sustainability reporting under the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), yet the literature remains theoretically fragmented and descriptive. This study maps its theoretical foundations through a PRISMA‐guided systematic review combining qualitative content analysis and bibliometric mapping of 77 English‐language, peer‐reviewed journal articles published between 2019 and 7 July 2026 and retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science. Findings show that 51.9% of articles are theory‐based; Stakeholder, Institutional, and Legitimacy theories account for 60.2% of all theoretical occurrences. Theory Application represents 85.0% of theory‐based studies, whereas Extension, Refinement, and Building remain limited. The literature is heavily concentrated in Europe. The study identifies theoretical concentration, application dominance, and geographic parochialism as key vulnerabilities and proposes a research agenda examining when double materiality may move beyond regulatory compliance toward substantive organizational transformation and strategic value creation.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Business Strategy and the Environment, 2026 · DOI ↗
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