The significance of remittance in fostering economic growth: a bibliometric and systematic literature review

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the bibliographic corpus pertaining
to the investigation of the impact of remittances on economic growth. Bibliometric analysis
was utilized to evaluate the current state of the art and the dynamics of research papers
published on the subject matter. Conversely, the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method
sought to scrutinize selected research papers to ascertain whether remittances play a
contributory role in economic growth and whether this impact is contingent upon countrylevel
developments.

Design: This study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining bibliometric analysis
and SLR to address literature review questions which were formulated using the PICO framework. The study utilized the Web of Science database (WoS). Bibliometric analysis
was conducted using VOSViewer and Biblioshiny. The second part of the study involved
SLR, following the PRISMA-2020 protocol, to further refine the selection of papers.

Findings: The findings suggest that a large proportion of published papers do not come
from countries with a high share of remittances in GDP, and the number of published
research papers is not dependent on the income level of the country. The results indicate
that there is a positive relationship between remittances and economic growth, and that
this nexus varies depending on a country’s income level. More developed countries tend to
utilize remittances more efficiently in their economies.

Originality: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study represents a novel
investigation of the literature pertaining to the topic, utilizing the WoS database as a primary
source. Moreover, the authors have advanced the methodological approach by employing
a synthesis of both bibliometric analysis and SLR.