Hidden stakeholders and the social dimension of ESG: Transnational business sustainability through Qiaopi Culture and Dear You

Purpose: Existing Qiaopi and ESG research largely emphasizes male migrants, financial remittances, and formal corporate stakeholders. This study examines how left-behind women functioned as hidden stakeholders who sustained geographically separated families, remittance networks, community trust, and cultural continuity in Southeast Asian Chinese business networks. Design/methodology/approach: The study combines conceptual analysis with qualitative textual analysis. Literature on Qiaopi, transnational remittances, stakeholder theory, social sustainability, and gendered care labor was reviewed alongside Dear You. The materials were organized through a four-layer framework covering stakeholder recognition, social reproduction, cultural sustainability, and ESG social responsibility. Findings: Qiaopi were not merely letters or remittance receipts; they operated as social infrastructure for transnational Chinese business networks. Left-behind women managed remittances, raised children, cared for elders, absorbed migration risks, and preserved cultural memory. Dear You makes these contributions visible through a family-centered narrative. Limitations and Research implications: study relies on conceptual and textual analysis without systematic archival statistics or field interviews. Future research may compare Qiaopi materials across hometowns, destinations, and gendered sources. Practical Implications: Cross-border enterprises and ESG practices should consider employee families, left-behind relatives, care labor, and cultural identity as relevant social foundations of long-term sustainability. Originality/value: The study connects Qiaopi culture with business sustainability and extends stakeholder analysis by identifying low-visibility family actors as hidden stakeholders within the social dimension of ESG.