This conceptual and integrative review develops a framework for proportionate ESG assurance in micro, small, and medium enterprises. It addresses the problem that MSMEs face increasing requests for environmental, social, and governance information but often lack affordable assurance routines that distinguish credible evidence from symbolic disclosure. Drawing on the resource-based view, dynamic capabilities, organizational learning, absorptive capacity, social capital, and resilience, the paper explains how stakeholder materiality mapping, evidence-quality protocols, responsibility assignment, independent challenge, corrective disclosure learning can be organized as mutually reinforcing routines. The proposed pathway moves from problem diagnosis and capability mapping to bounded experimentation, evidence review, resource reconfiguration, and learning retention. No primary survey, interview, experimental, administrative, or statistical data are claimed. The framework links these mechanisms to reporting credibility, decision usefulness, stakeholder confidence, lower greenwashing risk, sustainability resilience and identifies managerial, institutional, and research implications suitable for resource-constrained enterprises.
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