Abstract

This study examines the state of academic research on human development and sustainable economic growth. While related bibliometric reviews exist, this intersection has received less systematic attention. The study maps the field’s evolution, intellectual structure, and emerging directions, offering a future research agenda.

A dataset of 68 publications indexed in Scopus (2000-2025) was analyzed using Microsoft Excel and R for performance indicators and VOSviewer for science mapping, capturing both descriptive trends and relational structures. This bibliometric analysis shows that publications have steadily increased, with a sharp rise after the 2015 adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. The field is interdisciplinary but geographically concentrated in Europe, North America, and Asia, with fragmented collaboration networks. Thematic patterns reveal a shift from growth-centered models toward multidimensional approaches integrating sustainability, inclusion, and innovation. Emerging but underexplored areas include digital innovation, resilience, and human capital-environment linkages. Quantitative approaches dominate, though qualitative and mixed methods are gaining ground. This study provides a systematic bibliometric synthesis of a field that has received less attention, offering insights to guide future scholarship and policy. The analysis is limited to Scopus-indexed and English-language studies, which may introduce selection bias. Findings highlight gaps in regional representation and methodology, informing a future research agenda.

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