Country Risk and Foreign Direct Investment
A Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Literature
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23882/emss26354Keywords:
Country risk, Foreign direct investment, Sovereign risk, Sovereign credit ratings, Political risk, Bibliometrics, VOSviewer, BibliometrixAbstract
This article provides an in-depth bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature on the relationship between country risk and foreign direct investment (FDI). The study covers publications indexed in the Scopus database over the period 1998–2025. Document selection was conducted using the PRISMA protocol, resulting in a final corpus of 181 English-language publications. The main objective is to map the evolution of this research field, identify its leading scientific contributors, and highlight the dominant themes and emerging research directions. The findings reveal a steady growth in scientific output, particularly from 2010 onward, with a significant acceleration after 2018. The United States, China, the United Kingdom, and South Africa emerge as the most productive countries, while journals such as International Business Review, Journal of Comparative Economics, and Journal of International Business Studies are among the most influential sources. The author analysis indicates a relatively dispersed research structure, reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of the field, which draws on international economics, finance, international business, and political science. Keyword co-occurrence, co-citation, and bibliographic coupling analyses identify four major research streams: (1) institutions, governance, and political risk; (2) sovereign ratings, credit risk, and financial markets; (3) multinational enterprises’ location strategies; and (4) country risk determinants in emerging economies. The most central themes include political risk, economic risk, financial risk, institutional quality, sovereign credit ratings, and FDI flows. This study highlights the multidimensional nature of country risk and confirms its central role in international investment decisions. It provides an updated intellectual map of the field and proposes several avenues for future research, particularly regarding the interactions between sovereign risk, institutional quality, and the attractiveness of foreign direct investment.
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