Mapping the knowledge domains of COVID-19 and firm performance: main research trends and future direction

This paper conducts a bibliometric review of studies investigating the impact of Covid-19 on firm performance. Utilizing a dataset comprising 230 scientific articles from 135 journals and authored by 679 contributors sourced from the Web of Science database since the pandemic outbreak in 2020, our analysis employs CiteSpace and R Studio’s Biblioshiny software for scientific mapping and visualization. The study identifies Sustainability as the most productive journal, with predominant regional contributions originating from China. Through keyword clustering, emergent themes within the domain are delineated, focusing on supply chain resilience and management, corporate governance and performance, financial flexibility and performance, entrepreneurial orientation and business survival, and intellectual capital and profitability. Our findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the research landscape, revealing patterns in intellectual, conceptual, and social structures within the field. The paper proposes avenues for future studies and discusses implications for both policy and management by employing various keyword analysis techniques.