Future hot topics and directions of green growth based on a hybrid method

This paper aims to conduct a systematic overview of green growth literature and reveal the evolution, hot topics, as well as future directions of this field. Given the dispersion of the existing related studies, the development and evolution process of green growth have yet to be comprehensively reviewed. The qualitative review cannot objectively and quantitatively screen out important keywords, possibly leading to bias. This study uses a hybrid method based on bibliometric analysis and the fuzzy Delphi method to review 806 papers from the Scopus database. The findings show that there is an exponential rise in publications with the leading authors, countries, and institutions concentrated in South Korea, China, and the USA. The contents of core literature are focused on pathways and influencing factors of green growth. Hot topics, including policy support, resource management, emission reduction, and the application of new technology, are summarized. The top 5 keywords for future directions are energy, economy, emission, development, and management. The findings offer some valuable contributions to both academic and practical investigations of green growth.