Fiscal Decentralization and Local Financial Autonomy: A Bibliometric Review of Global Research Trends
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33005/jasf.v8i2.598Keywords:
Bibliometric analysis, fiscal decentralization, local financial autonomy, Reliability of Local Government Financial Statements, Scopus, VOSviewerAbstract
Purpose: This paper examines the prominent themes of research, intellectual connections, gaps in scholarship on the subject of local government financial autonomy in the world literature through bibliometric tools.
Method: Bibliometric analysis of 626 publications in the Scopus index (2000-2025) with the VOSviewer software was performed to chart the occurrence of two or more keywords, thematic networks, citation network, and co-authorship network. The discussion follows the historical developments of the use of fiscal decentralization and local financial autonomy in terms of time, geography, and scientific fields.
Findings: Nine thematic clusters were chosen that are reflections of intellectual organization of the subject-area, encompassing such areas as fiscal decentralization, urbanization, intergovernmental transfers, environmental regulation and digital governance. The research output has increased considerably since 2005 where the focus has shifted in terms of fiscal efficiency discussions to sustainability and technology-based governance issues. The best collaboration networks are between China and Europe and low involvement of Africa and Latin Americans. The temporal analysis shows that the financial crisis globally and the COVID-19 outbreak has fueled the study of fiscal resilience and adaptive financial management research.
Implications: This study shows the need for developing countries to deploy digital tools and enhance their intergovernmental transfer design, as well as capacity-building strategies that are often used by developed nations to improve their fiscal transparency, revenue performance, and resilience. This will go a long way to strengthen local financial systems.
Novelty/Value: The study's nine research clusters and gaps—including the underrepresentation of African and Latin American studies and the development of digital and environmental fiscal themes—provide a clearer intellectual framework for the field than previous reviews.
Downloads
References
Abotsi, A. K. (2023). Factors influencing the ability to honour debt repayment obligations by Governments in Africa. International Journal of Finance & Economics, 28(1), 876–885. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.2454
Agrawal, D., Brueckner, J., & Brülhart, M. (2024). Fiscal Federalism in the Twenty-First Century. Annual Review of Economics. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-081623-020713
Alfada, A. (2019). Does Fiscal Decentralization Encourage Corruption in Local Governments? Evidence from Indonesia. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 12(3), 118. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm12030118
Andrews, C. W., & de Vries, M. S. (2007). High expectations, varying outcomes: decentralization and participation in Brazil, Japan, Russia and Sweden. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 73(3), 424–451. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852307081151
Aparicio, G., Iturralde, T., & Rodríguez, A. V. (2023). Developments in the knowledge-based economy research field: a bibliometric literature review. Management Review Quarterly, 73(1), 317–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-021-00241-w
Arends, H. (2020). The Dangers of Fiscal Decentralization and Public Service Delivery: a Review of Arguments. Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 61(3), 599–622. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11615-020-00233-7
Ayaz, G., & Zahid, M. (2024). Trends, shifts and future prospects of sustainable finance research: a bibliometric analysis. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 15(5), 1094–1117. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-06-2022-0340
Baas, J., Schotten, M., Plume, A., Côté, G., & Karimi, R. (2020). Scopus as a curated, high-quality bibliometric data source for academic research in quantitative science studies. Quantitative Science Studies, 1(1), 377–386. https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00019
Buntaine, M. T., Hunnicutt, P., & Komakech, P. (2021). The Challenges of Using Citizen Reporting to Improve Public Services: A Field Experiment on Solid Waste Services in Uganda. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 31(1), 108–127. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muaa026
Chen, S., Liu, X., & Lu, C. (2022). Fiscal Decentralization, Local Government Behavior, and Macroeconomic Effects of Environmental Policy. Sustainability, 14(17), 11069. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141711069
Chen, H., & Yang, X. (2024). A Study of Spatial Spillovers from Fiscal Decentralization on the Efficiency of Green Economy—And the Moderating Role of Financial Decentralization. Sustainability, 16(15), 6487. https://doi.org/10.3390/su1615648 7
Chen, S., Yuan, L., Wang, W., & Gong, B. (2025). Decentralization, local information, and effort substitution: Evidence from a subnational decentralization reform in China. Governance, 38(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12884
Cifuentes-Faura, J., Fülöp, M. T., & Topor, D. I. (2024). Financial autonomy in Spanish local governments: Empirical evidence of beta and sigma convergence. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 90(3), 599–614. https://doi.org/10.1177/00208523231209655
Darman, Judijanto, L., Harsono, I., & Putra, A. S. B. (2023). Bibliometric Analysis of Human Resource Development: Trends, Research Focuses, and Recent Developments. West Science Journal Economic and Entrepreneurship, 1(11), 329–338. https://doi.org/10.58812/wsjee.v1i11.373
Darmawati, Mediawati, E., & Rasyid, S. (2024). New trends and directions in local government finance research: A bibliometric analysis. Public and Municipal Finance, 13(1), 137–149. https://doi.org/10.21511/pmf.13(1).2024.11
Fellnhofer, K. (2019). Toward a taxonomy of entrepreneurship education research literature: A bibliometric mapping and visualization. Educational Research Review, 27, 28–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2018.10.002
Fjeldstad, O., Chambas, G., & Brun, J. (2014). Local government taxation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A review and an agenda for research. https://consensus.app/papers/local-government-taxation-in-subsaharan-africa-a-review-fjeldstad-chambas/93715179a280567dbcb07e6fcb26c759/
Franceschini, F., Maisano, D., & Mastrogiacomo, L. (2015). Errors in DOI indexing by bibliometric databases. Scientometrics, 102(3), 2181–2186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-014-1503-4
Funk, K. D., & Owen, E. (2020). Consequences of an Anti‐Corruption Experiment for Local Government Performance in Brazil. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 39(2), 444–468. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22200
Grimaldo, F., Marušić, A., & Squazzoni, F. (2018). Fragments of peer review: A quantitative analysis of the literature (1969-2015). PLOS ONE, 13(2), e0193148. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193148
Guofang, Z., Rasul, M. S., & Omar, M. (2024). A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications on University-Industry Collaboration Using VOSviewer and R-biblioshiny. Multidisciplinary Journal for Education, Social and Technological Sciences, 11(2), 26–50. https://doi.org/10.4995/muse.2024.21167
Hanif, I., Wallace, S., & Gago-de-Santos, P. (2020). Economic Growth by Means of Fiscal Decentralization: An Empirical Study for Federal Developing Countries. Sage Open, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020968088
Ibrahim, A. H. H. (2024). Decentralization and its impact on improving public services. International Journal of Social Sciences, 7(2), 45–53. https://doi.org/10.21744/ijss.v7n2.2278
Javadi, R., Ghanbari, H., & Seiti, H. (2025). A bibliometric analysis on supply chain disruptions: Current status, development, and future directions. Journal of Future Sustainability, 107–126. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.jfs.2025.4.002
Kumar, R. (2025). Bibliometric Analysis: Comprehensive Insights into Tools, Techniques, Applications, and Solutions for Research Excellence. Spectrum of Engineering and Management Sciences, 3(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.31181/sems31202535k
Liu, N., Liu, C., Da, B., Zhang, T., & Guan, F. (2021). Dependence and risk spillovers between green bonds and clean energy markets. Journal of Cleaner Production, 279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123595
Mohammed, A. S., Tuokuu, F. X., & Bokuma, A. (2024). Decentralization and Local Government Performance: Empirical Evidence From Ghana. Journal of Asian and African Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096241228777
Mohamud, I. H. (2023). A Bibliometric Analysis of Educational Research Publications on Lean Manufacturing: Identifying Key Themes and Trends. Management Systems in Production Engineering, 31(4), 418–426. https://doi.org/10.2478/mspe-2023-0047
Naeem, M., Karim, S., Rabbani, M., Bashar, A., & Kumar, S. (2022). Current state and future directions of green and sustainable finance: a bibliometric analysis. Qualitative Research in Financial Markets. https://doi.org/10.1108/qrfm-10-2021-0174
Natsir Malawi. (2024). Analysis Of Decentralization Policy Implementation In Improving The Quality Of Public Services In Rural Areas. International Journal of Economics and Management Research, 3(2), 166–180. https://doi.org/10.55606/ijemr.v3i2.215
Navarro-Galera, A., Rodríguez-Bolívar, M. P., Alcaide-Muñoz, L., & López-Subires, M. D. (2016). Measuring the financial sustainability and its influential factors in local governments. Applied Economics, 48(41), 3961–3975. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2016.1148260
Nguyen, H. T., VO, T. H. N., LE, D. D. M., & Nguyen, V. T. (2020). Fiscal Decentralization, Corruption, and Income Inequality: Evidence from Vietnam. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(11), 529–540. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no11.529
Nicolò, G., Zanellato, G., Esposito, B., & Tiron-Tudor, A. (2024). Cultural dimensions and sustainability disclosure in the banking sector: Insights from a qualitative comparative analysis approach. Business Strategy and the Environment, 33(8), 8086–8101. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3911
Oates, W. (1999). An Essay on Fiscal Federalism. Journal of Economic Literature, 37, 1120–1149. https://doi.org/10.1257/JEL.37.3.1120
Öberg, S. A., & Wockelberg, H. (2021). Agency control or autonomy? Government steering of Swedish government agencies 2003–2017. International Public Management Journal, 24(3), 330–349. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2020.1799889
Ortiz Llana, A. J., Zapana Ruiz, J. A., & Meneses Claudio, B. A. (2023). Quality of service and citizen satisfaction in a Lima district municipality. Southern Perspective / Perspectiva Austral, 1, 17. https://doi.org/10.56294/pa202317
Otoo, I., & Danquah, M. (2021). Fiscal decentralization and efficiency of public services delivery by local governments in Ghana. African Development Review, 33(3), 411–425. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8268.12590
Park, Y., Kim, Y., & Chen, G. (2020). Financial capacity and organizational stability in U.S. local governments. Public Management Review, 24(3), 418–441. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2020.1834606
Psycharis, Y., Zoi, M., & Iliopoulou, S. (2016). Decentralization and local government fiscal autonomy: evidence from the Greek municipalities. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 34(2), 262–280. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263774X15614153
Selivanova, I. V., Kosyakov, D. V., & Guskov, A. E. (2019). The Impact of Errors in the Sсopus Database on the Research Assessment. Scientific and Technical Information Processing, 46(3), 204–212. https://doi.org/10.3103/S0147688219030109
Shang, Q., & Jin, X. (2023). A bibliometric analysis on climate finance: current status and future directions. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(57), 119711–119732. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31006-5
Shokraneh, F. (2019). Reproducibility and replicability of systematic reviews. World Journal of Meta-Analysis, 7(3), 66–76. https://doi.org/10.13105/wjma.v7.i3.66
Turley, G., Robbins, G., & McNena, S. (2015). A Framework to Measure the Financial Performance of Local Governments. Local Government Studies, 41, 401–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2014.991865
Udeagha, M. C., & Ngepah, N. (2023). Striving towards environmental sustainability in the BRICS economies: the combined influence of fiscal decentralization and environmental innovation. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 30(2), 111–125. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2022.2123411
Ulrich, H., Kock-Schoppenhauer, A.-K., Deppenwiese, N., Gött, R., Kern, J., Lablans, M., Majeed, R. W., Stöhr, M. R., Stausberg, J., Varghese, J., Dugas, M., & Ingenerf, J. (2022). Understanding the Nature of Metadata: Systematic Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(1), e25440. https://doi.org/10.2196/25440
Van Eck, N., & Waltman, L. (2010). Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Scientometrics, 84(2), 523–538.
Wang, M., & Tao, C. (2019). Research on the Efficiency of Local Government Health Expenditure in China and Its Spatial Spillover Effect. Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.3390/SU11092469
Wenjuan, S., & Zhao, K. (2023). Balancing fiscal expenditure competition and long-term innovation investment: Exploring trade-offs and policy implications for local governments. PLOS ONE, 18(11), e0293158. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293158
Zarychta, A., Benedum, M. E., Sanchez, E., & Andersson, K. P. (2024). Decentralization and Corruption in Public Service Delivery: Local Institutional Arrangements That Can Help Reduce Governance Risks. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 34(2), 238–254. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muad022
Zhang, H., Geng, C., & Wei, J. (2022). Coordinated development between green finance and environmental performance in China: The spatial-temporal difference and driving factors. Journal of Cleaner Production, 346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131150
Zhang, M., & Bhattacharjee, B. (2024). Evaluating The Impact of E-Governance on Public Service Delivery: A Case Study of Bangladesh. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 9(9), e002960. https://doi.org/10.47405/mjssh.v9i9.2960
