Economic policy uncertainty and corporate finance: a bibliometric review with a focus on cash holdings and financial stability

This study maps the literature on economic policy uncertainty (EPU), macroeconomic uncertainty and corporate finance, with particular attention to the positioning of cash holdings and financial stability. Using a cleaned Scopus corpus of 347 English-language articles and reviews, reduced from an initial 363 records, the study combines performance analysis and science-mapping techniques to examine publication trends, key contributors, collaboration networks, conceptual clusters, intellectual foundations and emerging research fronts. The findings show a rapidly growing but fragmented field, led mainly by China, the USA and several emerging markets. Conceptually, the literature is organised around macro-level uncertainty and firm-level financial decisions, especially investment, capital structure, risk-taking and financial distress. Cash holdings and liquidity buffers appear in the knowledge base but remain underdeveloped as a distinct research theme. The study identifies cash holdings as a promising agenda for future EPU-corporate finance research.