Foreign direct investment by multinational corporations in emerging economies: a comprehensive bibliometric analysis

Nazzal, Ahmed; Sánchez-Rebull, Maria-Victòria; Niñerola, Àngels

Abstract:

Purpose This study introduces a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the foreign direct investment (FDI) literature by multinational corporations (MNCs) focusing on emerging economies to identify the most influential authors, journals and articles in FDI research and reveals the fields' conceptual and intellectual structures. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach The study analyzed 533 articles published between 1974 and 2020 in 226 academic journals indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. We used the R language for statistical computing to map author collaboration, co-word and develop a conceptual and intellectual map of the field. Findings The results show that, although the FDI literature has many authors, few dominate the field. The International Business Review (IBR) and International Journal of Emerging Markets (IJoEM) are the main sources of the publications. Moreover, bibliometric laws show that our dataset follows the Lotka law of scientific productivity and Bradford law of scattering, identifying the core journals. Finally, FDI by MNCs in emerging economies research is divided into four sub-research themes related to (1) FDI determinants, (2) entry mode, (3) MNCs and FDI performance and (4) the internationalization process. Originality/value The current article provides several starting points for practitioners and researchers investigating FDI. It contributes to broadening the vision of the field and offers recommendations for future studies.

Year:

2023

Type of Publication:

Article

Keywords:

MNC; FDI; Emerging economies; Multinational corporations; Internationalization; Bibliometrix; Bibliometric analysis; Conceptual structure map; Intellectual theme

Journal:

International Journal of Emerging Markets

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-12-2021-1878