Intellectual Structure of Global Value Chain Research: Visualization and Bibliometric Analysis Based on VOSviewer

Over the past few decades, numerous scholars have conducted research on global value chains, and the amount of literature in this field has grown rapidly to become “big data.” In order to deeply analyze and explore the current research status and development trends in the field of global value chains, this article conducted a systematic and quantitative study on the global value chain. Based on the Web of Science Core Collection SCIE and SSCI databases, this article searched 8273 articles published between 2001 and 2021 with the theme of “Global Value Chain” and used visualization and bibliometric analysis methods. The research field was analyzed using VOSviewer software. Research has shown that the number of papers published in the global value chain field has been continuously increasing over time and has entered a period of rapid development since 2016. The main disciplines are economics and management. A few researchers and research institutions have a strong influence, but the cooperation between scholars and institutions is relatively weak. The United States, the United Kingdom, and China dominate the research field. The complex impact of the natural environment and public health on the global value chain, and the impact of big data and artificial intelligence on the global value chain, has become a new direction for future research. Countries should actively promote the development of the digital economy and green economy, promote the effective allocation of global value chain resources by enterprises, and adhere to the development of good bilateral political relations to reduce the uncertainty of enterprise participation in the global value chain caused by political risks.