Digital transformation: A systematic review and bibliometric analysis from the corporate finance perspective

TL;DR

This paper systematically reviews digital transformation research from 2011 to 2024, highlighting its evolution, key focus areas, and gaps from a corporate finance perspective using bibliometric and content analysis.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive classification of digital transformation literature, identifies research hotspots, and suggests future directions, filling a gap in corporate finance-focused reviews.

Findings

Rapid growth in digital transformation research, especially in developed countries.

Three main research areas: measurements, impact factors, economic consequences.

Identification of research gaps and future directions in digital transformation literature.

Abstract

Digital transformation significantly impacts firm investment, financing, and value enhancement. A systematic investigation from the corporate finance perspective has not yet been formed. This paper combines bibliometric and content analysis methods to systematically review the evolutionary trend, status quo, hotspots and overall structure of research in digital transformation from 2011 to 2024. The study reveals an emerging and rapidly growing focus on digital transformation research, particularly in developed countries. We categorize the literature into three areas according to bibliometric clustering: the measurements (qualitative and quantitative), impact factors (internal and external), and the economic consequences (investment, financing, and firm value). These areas are divided into ten sub-branches, with a detailed literature review. We also review the existing theories related to digital transformation, identify the current gaps in these papers, and provide directions for future research on each sub-branches.