Mapping the Global Knowledge Structure of Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth: A Bibliometric Analysis and Thematic Evolution

Foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth constitute one of the most persistent research interfaces in international economics, development studies and international business. Yet the knowledge structure of this literature is difficult to interpret because highly cited growth models, firm-level spillover studies, institutional analyses and newer sustainability and geopolitical research are often mapped separately. This critical bibliometric review synthesises the published science-mapping evidence on the FDI–growth relationship and connects it with verified empirical and theoretical literature through 8 July 2026. Searches across multidisciplinary and economics-oriented scholarly discovery sources were combined with citation chaining, DOI verification and critical appraisal. Rather than treating citation prominence as proof of economic effect, the review distinguishes intellectual influence from evidential strength and uses published bibliometric maps to reconstruct the field's conceptual, geographical and thematic evolution. The literature developed from early capital-accumulation and technology-transfer explanations towards conditional models centred on human capital, financial development, institutions and absorptive capacity. Subsequent work increasingly confronted endogeneity, heterogeneous spillovers and sectoral composition, while recent research has shifted towards green transition, digital infrastructure, geopolitical risk and the quality rather than the volume of FDI. Published bibliometric studies consistently identify a dense core around FDI, economic growth, technology and development, but their corpus definitions and database dependence materially affect rankings and trend claims. Empirical evidence likewise rejects a universal growth dividend: positive associations are common, but their magnitude and direction depend on host-country capabilities, linkage structures, investment type, policy regimes and identification strategy. The most defensible interpretation is therefore conditional and bidirectional. Future bibliometric work should integrate transparent open-data corpora with causal-evidence coding, distinguish greenfield investment from mergers and acquisitions, measure sectoral and technological composition, and connect science mapping to development outcomes. Such integration would shift the literature from asking whether FDI raises growth in the abstract towards identifying which forms of FDI generate durable productivity and welfare gains, where, and under what institutional conditions.