Political Connections, Uncertainty, and Corporate Cash Holdings: A Bibliometric Analysis of Governance, Risk, and Strategic Resilience

Nur Hayati, Aflit Nuryulia Prastiwi, Muhammad Sholahuddin

Abstract


This study presents a bibliometric analysis of research on political connections, uncertainty, and corporate cash holdings in economics, finance, and business. Using Scopus indexed journal articles, it examines publication trends, leading journals, influential authors, country contributions, citation impact, thematic clusters, and future research directions. The final dataset includes 265 articles published in 101 sources between 2008 and 2026 and was analysed using Bibliometrix and Biblioshiny. The results show substantial growth in this field, with an annual growth rate of 19.58%, especially after 2020. This increase reflects stronger scholarly interest in how firms maintain liquidity resilience amid economic and political uncertainty. Cash holdings emerge as the central conceptual theme connecting political connections, corporate governance, financial constraints, economic policy uncertainty, ownership structure, and firm value. Thematic mapping also indicates a shift from traditional liquidity-management explanations toward broader perspectives based on institutions, governance, and strategic resilience. This study contributes by integrating previously fragmented research streams into a unified bibliometric framework. It also offers theoretical implications for corporate finance, governance, and institutional theory, while identifying future research opportunities in emerging markets, where political embeddedness and institutional uncertainty strongly influence corporate financial decisions, liquidity policies, and long term resilience during periods of heightened market volatility and disruption.

Keywords


Political Connections; Corporate Cash Holdings; Uncertainty; Strategic Resilience.

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References


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