Mapping the Intellectual Structure and Research Trends of Social Capital in Management: A Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Abstract

One of the ideas that has drawn the interest of many researchers over the past few decades is social capital. It is a fundamental interdisciplinary topic in management sciences and an organisational value for businesses. However, there is currently no scientific consensus regarding its conceptualisation, dimensions, and operational measurements.

This study aims to examine the body of research on the concept of social capital in management sciences that was published between 1998 and 2024. We have chosen and examined 6504 papers published in journals that are indexed in the Scopus database. This study uses a bibliometric approach. With the aid of the VOSviewer software, the authors analyse the results from the following perspectives: the number of publications per year, the articles that are most frequently cited by other authors, the most renowned authors, the most influential reviews, the countries with the highest productivity, the cooperation of international universities, the co-occurrence of Spanish words, and the bibliographic couplage. The findings of this study can also be used to enhance our understanding of social capital research in management sciences and support additional reflections and research in this field.

Keywords

Social capital, bibliometric analysis, scientific cartography, VOSviewer.