IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jknowl/v16y2025i1d10.1007_s13132-024-02134-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bibliometric Analysis and Review of World Trade Organization Research: Suggesting Future Avenues using WOS Database

Author

Listed:
  • Ramphul Ohlan

    (Maharshi Dayanand University)

  • Anshu Ohlan

    (Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology)

  • Sudesh Chhikara

    (University School of Management, Kurukshetra University)

  • Tejaswini Singh

    (Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi)

Abstract

The study analyzes the intellectual structure of World Trade Organization (WTO) research, employing a bibliometric approach. The bibliographic information of 7203 publications in the WTO field published in the Web of Science Core Collection indexed journals over 1995–2023 was analyzed. The results indicate that the research on WTO has grown faster than that of regional trade agreements and the overall international business field during recent decades. It may partially be due to an increase in the number of active proceedings in the WTO dispute settlement body. The European countries are the major contributors to WTO research. The USA is the most productive and influential country, with 2070 WTO-related publications and an h-index of 100. In addition, the authors affiliated with institutions located in the USA have established strong research collaborations with those from China, England, Switzerland, and Canada. However, the contribution from China has grown faster in recent years. Global politics and international trade law have become highly impactful themes. As for future research avenues, the focus of this research corpus has gradually shifted from the Doha development round to a review of the trade dispute settlement mechanism and amendments to WTO laws for ensuring transparency and environmental sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Ramphul Ohlan & Anshu Ohlan & Sudesh Chhikara & Tejaswini Singh, 2025. "Bibliometric Analysis and Review of World Trade Organization Research: Suggesting Future Avenues using WOS Database," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(1), pages 3741-3771, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s13132-024-02134-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-024-02134-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13132-024-02134-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13132-024-02134-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bagwell, Kyle & Staiger, Robert W., 1997. "Multilateral tariff cooperation during the formation of customs unions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 91-123, February.
    2. Nicholas Bloom & Mirko Draca & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Trade Induced Technical Change? The Impact of Chinese Imports on Innovation, IT and Productivity," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(1), pages 87-117.
    3. Kuenzel, David J., 2017. "WTO dispute determinants," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 157-179.
    4. Prema‐Chandra Athukorala & Sisira Jayasuriya, 2003. "Food Safety Issues, Trade and WTO Rules: A Developing Country Perspective," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(9), pages 1395-1416, September.
    5. Richard Pomfret, 2021. "‘Regionalism’ and the global trade system," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(9), pages 2496-2514, September.
    6. Koopman, Robert & Hancock, John & Piermartini, Roberta & Bekkers, Eddy, 2020. "The Value of the WTO," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 829-849.
    7. Bagwell, Kyle & Staiger, Robert W, 1997. "Multilateral Tariff Cooperation during the Formation of Free Trade Areas," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 38(2), pages 291-319, May.
    8. Dhingra, Swati & Meyer, Timothy, 2021. "Leveling the Playing Field: Industrial Policy and Export-Contingent Subsidies in India–Export Related Measures," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 606-622, October.
    9. Robert W. Staiger & Kyle Bagwell, 1999. "An Economic Theory of GATT," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 215-248, March.
    10. Subramanian, Arvind & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2007. "The WTO promotes trade, strongly but unevenly," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 151-175, May.
    11. Sung Eun Kim & Johannes Urpelainen & Joonseok Yang, 2019. "Environmental effects of GATT/WTO membership: an empirical evaluation," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(5), pages 917-932, September.
    12. Liu, Weishu, 2021. "Caveats for the use of Web of Science Core Collection in old literature retrieval and historical bibliometric analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    13. Sena Kimm Gnangnon, 2017. "Impact of trade facilitation reforms on tax revenue," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 44(5), pages 765-780, October.
    14. Wade, Robert Hunter, 2003. "What strategies are viable for developing countries today? The World Trade Organization and the shrinking of ‘development space’," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 28239, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Kym Anderson & Will Martin & Dominique van der Mensbrugghe, 2006. "Doha Merchandise Trade Reform: What Is at Stake for Developing Countries?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 20(2), pages 169-195.
    16. Andrew K. Rose, 2004. "Do We Really Know That the WTO Increases Trade?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 98-114, March.
    17. Matteo Fiorini & Bernard Hoekman & Petros C. Mavroidis & Douglas Nelson & Robert Wolfe, 2021. "Stakeholder Preferences and Priorities for the Next WTO Director General," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S3), pages 13-22, April.
    18. Ka Zeng & Karen Sebold & Yue Lu, 2020. "Global value chains and corporate lobbying for trade liberalization," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 409-443, April.
    19. Anderson, Kym, 2022. "Trade-related food policies in a more volatile climate and trade environment," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    20. C. Y. Cyrus Chu & Po‐Ching Lee, 2018. "Paris Needs Geneva, and Vice Versa," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 9(4), pages 570-577, November.
    21. Estrada, Mario Arturo Ruiz & Koutronas, Evangelos, 2022. "The impact of the Russian Aggression against Ukraine on the Russia-EU Trade," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 599-616.
    22. Isabelle Van Damme, 2023. "25 Years of Law and Practice at the WTO: Did the Appellate Body Dig its Own Grave?," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 124-132.
    23. Chad P. Bown, 2017. "Mega-Regional Trade Agreements and the Future of the WTO," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8(1), pages 107-112, February.
    24. Ohlan, Ramphul & Ohlan, Anshu, 2022. "A comprehensive bibliometric analysis and visualization of smart home research," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    25. Brandt, Loren & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes & Zhang, Yifan, 2012. "Creative accounting or creative destruction? Firm-level productivity growth in Chinese manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 339-351.
    26. Paarlberg, Robert, 1997. "Agricultural Policy Reform and the Uruguay Round: Synergistic Linkage in a Two-Level Game?," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(3), pages 413-444, July.
    27. Regis Y Simo, 2020. "Trade in Services in the African Continental Free Trade Area: Prospects, Challenges and WTO Compatibility," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 65-95.
    28. Kyle Bagwell & Robert W. Staiger, 2004. "The Economics of the World Trading System," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262524341, December.
    29. Mrázová, Monika & Vines, David & Zissimos, Ben, 2013. "Is the GATT/WTO's Article XXIV bad?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 216-232.
    30. William A. Kerr, 2020. "The COVID‐19 pandemic and agriculture: Short‐ and long‐run implications for international trade relations," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 68(2), pages 225-229, June.
    31. Stephen W. Hartman, 2013. "The WTO, the Doha Round Impasse, PTAs, and FTAs/RTAs," The International Trade Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(5), pages 411-430, December.
    32. Claussen, Kathleen, 2022. "Next-Generation Agreements and the WTO," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(3), pages 380-388, July.
    33. Dirk Bièvre & Ilaria Espa & Arlo Poletti, 2017. "No iceberg in sight: on the absence of WTO disputes challenging fossil fuel subsidies," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 411-425, June.
    34. Mavroidis, Petros C., 2013. "Driftin’ too far from shore – Why the test for compliance with the TBT Agreement developed by the WTO Appellate Body is wrong, and what should the AB have done instead," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 509-531, July.
    35. Davey, William J., 2022. "WTO Dispute Settlement: Crown Jewel or Costume Jewelry?," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(3), pages 291-300, July.
    36. Tim Büthe & Helen V. Milner, 2008. "The Politics of Foreign Direct Investment into Developing Countries: Increasing FDI through International Trade Agreements?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(4), pages 741-762, October.
    37. Swati Dhingra & Timothy Meyer, 2021. "Leveling the Playing Field: Industrial Policy and Export-Contingent Subsidies in India-Export Measures," RSCAS Working Papers 2021/15, European University Institute.
    38. Hongryol Cha & Masaaki Kotabe & Jie Wu, 2023. "Reshaping Internationalization Strategy and Control for Global E-Commerce and Digital Transactions: A Hayekian Perspective," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 161-192, February.
    39. Adnan Ali & Suresh Ramakrishnan & Faisal Faisal & Tooba Akram & Sidra Salam & Sami Ur Rahman, 2023. "Bibliometric analysis of finance and natural resources: past trend, current development, and future prospects," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(11), pages 13035-13064, November.
    40. Junwen Zhu & Weishu Liu, 2020. "A tale of two databases: the use of Web of Science and Scopus in academic papers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(1), pages 321-335, April.
    41. Bernard Hoekman & Petros C. Mavroidis, 2021. "WTO Reform: Back to the Past to Build for the Future," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S3), pages 5-12, April.
    42. Russell Hillberry & Carlos Zurita, 2022. "Commitment behaviour in the World Trade Organization's Trade Facilitation Agreement," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 36-75, January.
    43. Paul, Justin & Alhassan, Ibrahim & Binsaif, Nasser & Singh, Prakash, 2023. "Digital entrepreneurship research: A systematic review," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maggi, Giovanni, 2014. "International Trade Agreements," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 317-390, Elsevier.
    2. Limão, Nuno & Handley, Kyle, 2013. "Policy Uncertainty, Trade and Welfare: Theory and Evidence for China and the U.S," CEPR Discussion Papers 9615, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. David J. Kuenzel, 2019. "Do trade flows respond to nudges? Evidence from the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Mechanism," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 735-764, August.
    4. Ralph Ossa, 2011. "A "New Trade" Theory of GATT/WTO Negotiations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(1), pages 122-152.
    5. Kyle Bagwell & Chad P. Bown & Robert W. Staiger, 2016. "Is the WTO Passé?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(4), pages 1125-1231, December.
    6. Mohammad Amin, 2004. "Time Inconsistency of Trade Policy and Multilateralism," International Trade 0402002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Nuno Limão, 2016. "Preferential Trade Agreements," NBER Working Papers 22138, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Xuepeng Liu & Emanuel Ornelas, 2014. "Free Trade Agreements and the Consolidation of Democracy," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 29-70, April.
    9. Bown, Chad P. & Crowley, Meredith A., 2014. "Emerging economies, trade policy, and macroeconomic shocks," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 261-273.
    10. Ivan Montiel & Junghoon Park & Bryan W. Husted & Andres Velez-Calle, 2022. "Tracing the connections between international business and communicable diseases," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(8), pages 1785-1804, October.
    11. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "Duration of membership in the world trade organization and investment-oriented remittances inflows," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 258-277.
    12. Emanuel Ornelas, 2016. "Special and Differential Treatment for Developing Countries," CESifo Working Paper Series 5823, CESifo.
    13. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2022. "Duration of WTO Membership and Investment-Oriented Remittances Flows," EconStor Preprints 251274, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    14. Bagwell, Kyle & Staiger, Robert W., 2001. "Reciprocity, non-discrimination and preferential agreements in the multilateral trading system," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 281-325, June.
    15. Paul Missios & Kamal Saggi & Halis Murat Yildiz, 2018. "External trade diversion, exclusion incentives and the nature of preferential trade agreements," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Kamal Saggi (ed.), Economic Analysis of the Rules and Regulations of the World Trade Organization, chapter 10, pages 223-237, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    16. Juyoung Cheong & Do Won Kwak & Kam Ki Tang, 2015. "Can Trade Agreements Curtail Trade Creation and Prevent Trade Diversion?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 221-238, May.
    17. Bagwell, Kyle & Staiger, Robert W., 2012. "The economics of trade agreements in the linear Cournot delocation model," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 32-46.
    18. Dreher, Axel & Mikosch, Heiner & Voigt, Stefan, 2015. "Membership has its Privileges – The Effect of Membership in International Organizations on FDI," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 346-358.
    19. Robert W. Staiger & Kyle Bagwell, 1999. "An Economic Theory of GATT," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 215-248, March.
    20. Kyle Bagwell & Petros C. Mavroidis & Robert W. Staiger, 2003. "The Case for Auctioning Countermeasures in the WTO," NBER Working Papers 9920, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s13132-024-02134-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.