Bibliometric Overview of Organizational Legitimacy Research

Abstract

In recent years, the evaluator’s perspective of legitimacy theory appears to be a hot topic. We provide an overview by conducting a bibliometric review in this field. Based on the data during 1995 to 2020 from the Web of Science Core Collection database, this study investigates the present status, the evolution of the evaluator’s perspective, thematic change, and intellectual turning points via HistCite, CiteSpace, etc. Results demonstrate that the evaluator’s perspective is experiencing exponential growth. Suchman MC is the most cited author; While Palazzo G is the most productive. Academy of Management Review ranks first in citation, and Journal of Business Ethics is the most productive. The University of Lausanne enjoys the highest citation, and Copenhagen Business School publishes the most articles. The USA ranks first in terms of citation and publication. Author collaboration network is not close, while institutional collaboration and national collaboration networks are relatively dense. Highly-cited articles show the evolution of the evaluator’s perspective, and five evolution paths are found. The main areas are concentrated on signaling theory, business ethics, CSR communication, reputation, environmental disclosure, etc; 14 references act as intellectual turning points. The findings provide a panorama for researchers interested in this topic and help to better understand future research direction.