Science mapping of IB literature on internationalization of R&D: A bibliometric review

Abstract

Focusing specifically on international business (IB) literature, this paper aims to identify different research themes where IB scholars have already contributed regarding the internationalization of R&D and to highlight further research scopes to develop the IB research front on this phenomenon. We have adopted a quantitative approach to reviewing the existing literature. Based on our bibliometric analysis, more specifically keyword co-occurrence analysis, we have identified six research themes. Each research theme is represented as different clusters and contains interconnected topics. Building on the keyword co-occurrence analysis, we developed a conceptual framework surrounding a specific context - emerging countries. While different elements of this conceptual framework have been widely studied in the context of advanced/developed economies, our bibliometric analysis shows that more emphasis is needed on the investigation of the same elements within the context of emerging countries. We conclude our analysis by emphasizing on the need for more comparative studies on the internationalization of R&D between advanced and emerging countries.