Title: Public subsidies and firm innovation: an international comparative review based on bibliometric analysis

Authors: Ke Feng; Deming Zeng; Xin Zhou

Addresses: Business School, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, China ' Business School, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, China ' Business School, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, China

Abstract: A fast-growing body of global literature examines the relationship between public subsidies and firm innovation from different perspectives. Through a systematic quantitative literature review and bibliometric analysis based on degree centrality and communities in 2005-2019 co-keyword networks, this study maps the evolution of the intellectual structure of the focal literature through international comparison. The results reveal that the global literature has developed a collection of increasingly interconnected topics and several dominant research streams. Its focus gradually shifted from a macro to a firm-centric perspective that seeks to unravel how firms interact with external factors to utilise public subsidies and experience changes in innovation behaviour and performance. Chinese, American, and German scholars have adopted varied approaches, that is, 'real-problem driven', 'theory-driven', and 'policy-evaluation' perspectives, respectively. These bibliometric results call for an integrated theoretical framework that combines resource-based view, organisational learning theory, examinations on international policy competition, and a contingency theory.

Keywords: public subsidies; firm innovation; international comparison; bibliometric analysis; social network analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2026.153353

European Journal of International Management, 2026 Vol.29 No.2, pp.210 - 231

Received: 19 Jul 2020
Accepted: 06 Jan 2021
Published online: 06 May 2026 *

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