Background This review examines the development of scholarly literature on economic policy and public sector reform. Despite the rapid growth of publications, the field’s fragmented themes across governance, fiscal, and administrative domains require a comprehensive mapping to clarify conceptual trajectories and global knowledge structures. Methods Bibliometric data covering the 2016–2025 period were retrieved from the Dimensions database using the keywords “Economic Policy” and “Public Sector”. A dataset of 500 publications was analyzed and visualized using Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer (version 1.6.20) to evaluate publication trends, keyword co-occurrences, and bibliographic coupling across documents, sources, authors, institutions, and countries. Results The analysis identifies a progressive increase in annual publication trajectories, with a substantial surge post-2023 highlighting governance transformation, digital administration, and collaborative models. Thematic mapping indicates that public sector reform remains dominant, while economic policy and digital governance represent rapidly expanding frontiers. Global knowledge production is strongly shaped by highly connected actors, with the United States and the United Kingdom occupying central positions within the intellectual network landscape. Conclusions The literature demonstrates a significant paradigm shift from traditional administrative efficiency concerns toward adaptive, technology-oriented, and interdisciplinary network-based governance approaches. This review contributes to a structured understanding of the intellectual evolution, thematic interfaces, and institutional hubs, offering critical insights for future research directions in public policy domains.
Afis et al. (Wed,) studied this question.