A quantitative analysis of the academic economic literature regarding the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES)

This article presents a systematization and quantitative evaluation of the economic literature regarding the Brazilian Development Bank – BNDES – produced since its foundation, in 1952, until 2013. We identified, catalogued, read and analyzed approximately 1000 studies, in order to understand what were the major themes and questions raised in this literature, what types of methodologies were employed and how these changed over time, as well as indicators of authorship, collaboration and institutional affiliation. Using this database, a quantitative analysis was carried out using the following indicators: (i) production, which evaluates both the quantity and characteristics of these publications, (ii) impact, which measures the repercussion of this production and (iii) relational, which evaluates citation, co-citation and co-authorship networks. The results showed a growing trend in the number of publications, especially in the last two decades. Additionally, this analysis revealed that the distribution of these publications was significantly concentrated in terms of the most cited documents, the most prolific authors and the institutions which sponsored these publications. Furthermore, a network analysis showed a reduced density in the citation and co-authorship networks, as well as isolated debates on certain themes.