TRUST IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR: A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS (1967–2020)

The sphere of trust in the financial sector, which is actively developing in the conditions of financial crises and recessions, is accompanied by a significant increase in the scientific literature that requires detailed analysis. The changes faced by trust in the financial sector over the past thirty years have remain unprecedented. Recent developments in financial technologies, blockchain, risk assessments have led to a renewed interest and rapid growth in the number of academic publications on trust in the financial domain. A number of literature reviews have been published focusing on specific aspects and trends of trust in the financial sector. However, far too little attention has been given to developing a global vision of academic knowledge about trust in the financial sector from a statistical perspective. This study was designed to provide insights and updates that have not yet been fully understood or described by other reviews in the domain of trust in the financial system by applying a thorough bibliometric (Scopus tools, Google Trends) and network (VOSviewer) analysis. This paper will make it possible to create a global picture of the phenomenon, to determine the dynamic aspects of trends from a statistical point of view, using content-contextual, descriptive, comparative, cluster, and evolutionary-temporal methods. The methodological basis of the study is a set of scientific publications indexed in the Scopus scientometric database, which were analysed using ScopusTools and VOSViewer analytical tools. A total of 1,148 academic studies published between 1967 and 2020 were analysed, including 364 authors, 158 journals, and 101 countries. By applying rigorous bibliometric and network tools, established and emergent research clusters were identified based on the key research topics and interrelations. With the help of built-in tools of the Scopus scientometric base, the main stages of scientific interest in the trust in the financial sector were determined. The most significant studies in this area by influence and citations were identified. In addition, the classification of the research on trust in the financial sector by scientific fields was considered, and the geographical centers of research were determined. A comparative analysis of Google searches showed that trust in the financial sector could be considered as one of the critical conditions for overcoming macroeconomic imbalances. Cluster analysis made it possible to identify five main clusters of scientific research. The main research findings showed that trust in the financial sector is one of the most multidisciplinary phenomena, and the keywords such as human, economy, financial management, finance, organization and management, private sector, public sector are closely related. The results of the study provide a solid roadmap for further consideration in this area.