Shadow Economy and Bibliometric Analysis: What Is the Trend in Current Times ?

Through VOSviewer bibliometric analysis, the changing academic focus on the link between technological progress and shadow economy is examined. The study highlights the broad research areas, emerging themes, and gaps in this interdisciplinary topic by mapping keyword co-occurrence networks. Digitalization, corruption and tax evasion have recently received a lot of attention, but the results show that digitalization and technology have always had an impact on informal economic activity. The report also shows that people are becoming concerned about how shadow economy affects the environment, particularly in terms of carbon emissions and sustainable development. However, there are substantial knowledge gaps due to weak links between shadow economy, public policy and productivity. Policy interventions and the wider economic consequences of informal activity could be the subject of future research. In an increasingly digitized and interconnected world, the importance of taking a comprehensive approach to understanding the shadow economy is highlighted.