Tracing the trajectory of financial vulnerability: a systematic review and bibliometric analysis

Over the span of 40 years, a substantial number of conceptual and empirical studies have been conducted on financial vulnerability (henceforth FV). These studies primarily covered socioeconomics, finance, management, and medicine. However, there is a paucity of comprehensive reviews and scientific mapping of the extant literature in the FV domain. Bibliometric analysis attempts to provide quantitative and qualitative knowledge in this area. This study was based on a review of 475 articles published in Scopus-indexed journals from 1990 to 2023. The present study employed the Biblioshiny R studio Bibliometrix package for data extraction and analysis. Our analysis provides information on recent publication trends; prominent authors, institutes, and countries; citations; thematic groups; keyword analysis; and social network analysis to identify influential work in this research domain and future gaps. The present analysis contributes to consolidating the existing fragmented literature on FV and highlights its significance during the current pandemic. Additionally, the study would be useful for researchers, practitioners, and academicians to proceed to further explore the area and outline the trends and their empirical investigation. Over the span of 40 years, a substantial number of conceptual and empirical studies have been conducted on financial vulnerability. Thus, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of financial vulnerability research, utilizing both systematic review and bibliometric analysis to map trends, key themes, and influential works. By synthesizing existing literature and visualizing the network of scholarly contributions, this study highlights the critical factors and providing the future research directions in the field. The findings offer valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners, aiding in the formulation of strategies to mitigate financial vulnerability and promote financial resilience in diverse socioeconomic contexts.