Empirical Literature on Economic Growth, 1991–2020: Uncovering Extant Gaps and Avenues for Future Research

Abstract

The factors required to achieve sustainable economic growth in a country are debated for decades, and empirical research in this regard continues to grow. Given the relevance of the topic and the absence of a comprehensive, systematic literature review, we used bibliometric techniques to examine and document several aspects in the empirical literature related to growth, from 1991 to 2020. Five main results are worth highlighting: (a) the share of empirical articles on economic growth show a clear upward trend; (b) among all the groups of countries considered, the emerging economies (EEs) have received the most scientific attention; (c) the economic growth processes of the Latin American and Caribbean EEs have observed negligible scientific attention; (d) the very long-run studies comprise a residual share among the empirical literature on growth; (e) the extant empirical studies on economic growth have addressed mainly the impact of “macroeconomic conditions.” Our findings suggest there is a need to redirect the empirical growth agenda, so as to encourage more scientific attention devoted to the analysis of key determinants of economic growth in the very long run. There should also be increased scrutiny of the processes of economic growth in Latin American and Caribbean EEs