Digital Economy: A research framework based on a bibliometric and in-depth analysis

Recent advances in digital technologies and policy incentives aimed at digital transformation of society and economy signal that future research should devote considerable attention to the concept of digital economy and the research domains strongly connected to it. The interest in the digital economy has generated a wide array of terms that created confusion over its theoretical foundations. Several bibliometric analyses in recent years have attempted to map scientific findings and provide guidelines for future research in this area. However, such analyses draw their conclusions from algorithms that focus on attributes common to all studies without looking at their content. Our study combines bibliometric and in-depth content analyses to shed light on the definition, theoretical underpinnings, and state of the art of research on the digital economy . Our findings show that research on the digital economy is still in its infancy and that the stated focus of digital economy studies is often not reflected in their content. The design of the study allows us to more precisely identify gaps in existing knowledge, outline a detailed research agenda and provide guidelines for future studies as well as informed policy decisions based on rigorous research on the determinants and outcomes of the digital economy.