The state of Ponzi schemes research: a bibliometric analysis from 1977 to 2024

Purpose This study aims to examine the evolution of research on Ponzi schemes, provides an analysis of trends in extant literature and evaluates the intellectual structure of research in the field. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a bibliometric analysis of 649 studies on Ponzi schemes published between 1977 and 2024 from the Scopus database. The authors used coauthorship, cooccurrence, citation and bibliographic coupling techniques to analyze the bibliometric data using the VOSviewer software. Findings The authors show from the cluster analysis the dominant themes that researchers in this domain have focused on and from the overlay visualization how these issues have evolved over the past four decades. The authors highlight influential authors, most cited articles, prominent publication outlets and institutions advancing research in this field. Originality/value The review provides a comprehensive retrospective assessment of scholarly works on Ponzi schemes while highlighting potential hotspots for future studies.