Linkages between shadow economy and corruption: a bibliometric analysis

Abstract

The article summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the relationship between shadow economic processes and corruption schemes in the country. The main purpose of the study is a retrospective and current analysis of the scientific publications on anti-corruption and the shadow economy at the international level based on the SciVal and VOSViewerv. The urgency of solving this scientific problem is to move from the traditional review of scientific publications to the innovative approach, which involves establishing cross-cutting issues, interdisciplinary and interethnic relations in the study of the scientific problems. The relationship between the corruption level in the country and the scale of the shadow economy is studied in the following logical sequence: determining the dynamics of scientific articles on anti-corruption issues and shadow processes; establishment of the most cited scientific papers and publications on certain issues; analysis of research areas in SciVal, identification of promising areas of research on selected topics. Data from the Scopus scientometric database for the period 1996—2021 were used to monitor scientific publications covering the interaction of corruption with shadow economic processes. 4696 scientific publications on certain issues were selected for bibliometric analysis. On average, about 40% of publications on corruption and the shadow economy are published by European scholars. The article finds that 15% of publications devoted to corruption and shadow activities belong to the cluster «Monetary policy; economic growth; export», the radiance level of 94,448. Between 2011 and 2020, researchers at the University of Sheffield (UK), Oxford University (UK), and the Australian National University (Australia) published the largest number of scientific papers studying the relationship between corruption and the shadow economy.Based on the analysis of metadata of scientific publications via VOSViewerv, four content clusters were identified. The study theoretically proves that corruption and shadow economy are complex and multifaceted phenomena that can both complement and condition each other and have a systemically important impact on the pace of the country’s socio-economic development.