Methodological Development of Digital Economy Indices: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

This article aims to expand our understanding of the methodological development of digital economy indices and determine the importance of their application in scientific research. As research methodology, a systematic literature review is applied. Scholars’ increased interest in this topic has been particularly pronounced in the last few years (after 2017). Research on digital economy indices is regularly conducted and is constantly enhancing with the constructions and implementations of new methodological approaches. Identified shortcomings and advantages of a particular index of the digital economy not only facilitate the selection and employment of appropriate indices in upcoming research, but also enable a high-quality analysis of the results obtained. Besides the analysed shortcomings and advantages, the chronological overview of the development of digital economy indices contributes to their methodological improvements in upcoming research. In addition to insight into existing results, the review of empirical findings reveals insufficiently researched topics. Finally, the outcomes demonstrated in this study might be a sound basis and motivation for achieving new contributions in future scientific papers.