Corporate tax avoidance in the digital economy: a systematic review with bibliometric and thematic analysis across emerging economies

This study examines the contribution of multinational corporations (MNCs) to corporate tax avoidance and maps the evolution of research in this domain. It aims to identify dominant theories, contextual settings, methodological approaches, and key research gaps, with particular emphasis on emerging economies. A systematic literature review was conducted using the PRISMA framework, covering 341 Scopus-indexed journal articles published between 1974 and 2025. Bibliometric mapping of the dataset enabled the identification of 67 cluster-representative studies for in-depth thematic content analysis. The theory, context, characteristics, methodology (TCCM) framework was employed to systematically classify prior research, while keyword co-occurrence and science-mapping techniques were used to identify major thematic clusters. The findings reveal a substantial increase in publications after 2014, largely driven by digitalisation and intangible business models. Existing literature remains predominantly focused on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) economies, with limited attention to emerging markets that are more vulnerable to profit-shifting practices.