EXAMINING BIBLIOMETRIC PATTERNS OF THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE IN THE CONTEXT OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS: HIGHLIGHTING ALIGNMENT WITH SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Abstract

The Belt and Road Initiative presents a distinctive opportunity not only to bolster economic relations with partner nations but also to serve as a catalyst for regional economic growth. This study aims to delineate the advancement in research articles authored by various contributors, originating from diverse journals and countries, all of which are indexed in the SCOPUS database over the past two decades. The data is scrutinized employing VOS viewer software, enabling the visualization of co-occurrence maps among authors and countries. Additionally, the publications are also categorized based on the United Nations' 17 sustainable development goals. The findings elucidate that while the official inception of the concept was in 2013, the literature on One Belt One Road predates this period. However, a noticeable surge in publications occurred from 2014 onwards. Among the 6520 publications identified on the topic, 1613 are relevant to the domains of business, management, accounting, economics, econometrics, and finance. After refining the publication type to "article," the final tally stands at 1038 research articles published thus far. The study also discerns that a significant portion of these publications emanated from countries such as China, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Notably, there exists a scarcity of literature from Belt and Road partner countries especially from Central Asia and South-South regions. Given their pivotal role as direct stakeholders, their insights could be invaluable in generating research with tangible real-world implications.