Mapping the Intellectual Evolution of Resilience Research in Public Finance: A Bibliometric Analysis

This paper provides a bibliometric analysis of resilience in the public finance field, covering the period from 2008 to February 2026. Using a sample of 656 papers collected from Scopus database, and following the PRISMA reporting protocol, the study employs Bibliometrix package and VOSviewer as analytical and processing tools to produce a science map of the literature. The analysis examines publication trends, leading authors, institutions, and countries, as well as the thematic evolution over time. Results reveal three distinct phases of development. The first phase (2008-2019) was primarily focused on the theoretical conceptualization of the concept, with the financial vulnerability and the regional urban economic resilience. The second phase (2019-2022) was dominated by research on the COVID-19 shock and its effects on public finance resilience, alongside the emergence of governance as a central theme. The third and recent phase (2023-2026) notes the emergence of new themes, including digital finance, risk management, and artificial intelligence, reflecting a broader and more interdisciplinary analysis of public finance resilience. The study identifies key research gaps, including the geographical concentration of contributions and collaborations, the absence of anticipatory analysis and preventive dimensions of resilience, and the limited cross-country comparative work between highly and low-resilience contexts.