Investor relations – a systematic literature review

<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive, interdisciplinary review of international investor relations (IR) research published since 1990. It highlights the development of IR research, its disciplinary foundations and key areas of inquiry. Research is shown to reflect the rising importance of IR as a corporate communications function, its interdisciplinary character, and the recognition of its contribution to strategic management.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>Findings are based on an interdisciplinary systematic literature review focusing on peer-reviewed journal articles published in English since 1990.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>The authors differentiate five strands of research focusing on the organization, strategy, instruments, content and effects of IR. IR research is shown to have strong roots in the business and management, accounting and communications literature. The authors document a rising interest in the topic and a steady development beyond descriptive accounts of the function to distinctive lines of inquiry. The authors summarize the state of the field and derive a number of suggestions for future research.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Research limitations/implications</jats:title><jats:p>The review is limited in scope to the applied research process, including the choice of keywords, databases as well as peer-reviewed journal publications published in English since 1990.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>This study contributes to the necessary structuration and consolidation of the emergent field of IR research by identify salient perspectives and common subfields. It provides both a comprehensive overview of the state of research and specific suggestions for future endeavors.</jats:p></jats:sec>