Regional Economic Integration and Economic Growth
Achievements and Research Perspectives
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23882/emss26254Keywords:
Regional economic integration, Economic growth, Bibliometric analysis, Value chains, Economic developmentAbstract
This article offers a mapping of the academic literature dedicated to the relationship between regional economic integration and economic growth. Its objective is to catalog major contributions, identify dominant thematic trends, trace conceptual developments in the field, and outline a structured research agenda for future studies. The methodology is based on a rigorous bibliometric review, combined with qualitative content analysis. A corpus of 47 documents published between 1998 and 2025, extracted from the Scopus database, was analyzed using VOSviewer (1.6.20) and Bibliometrix (R). The study combines scientific performance indicators with a keyword co-occurrence analysis, revealing six structuring thematic clusters: (1) regional integration, externalities, and empirical frameworks; (2) Asian geoeconomics and distributive effects; (3) key growth channels via FDI; (4) Asian blocs and trade flows; (5) regional trade in Africa and structural challenges; (6) advanced institutional architectures in Europe. The analysis highlights a growing complexity in the literature, marked by geographical broadening and methodological diversification. Theoretically, research remains dominated by endogenous growth and regional economics approaches, with increasing attention to the institutional depth of agreements, spatial externalities, and the sustainability of integration effects. The article identifies several limitations, including the exclusive use of the Scopus database and the reliance on predefined query keywords. Despite these, the results provide clear pathways for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, such as improving the measurement of integrative depth, precisely identifying causal channels, leveraging micro-data, and incorporating environmental, digital, and social considerations into the assessment of regional economic integration policies.
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