Transfer pricing research through competing lenses: a science-mapping review and strategic agenda

Utilizing a dataset of 1,673 Scopus-indexed documents (1972–2025), this review examines the evolution of transfer pricing scholarship through science mapping and performance analysis. The results illustrate a transition from particular tax literature to multidisciplinary frameworks. Using a quantitative bibliometric review design, this study collected Scopus-indexed documents on the keyword ‘transfer pricing’. They were analyzed using performance analysis and science mapping with VOSviewer and Biblioshiny in RStudio. The primary research cluster remains centered on profit shifting and base erosion. A second central theme, based on keyword analysis, includes terms such as performance measurement, decentralization, and formulary apportionment. The study also identifies nascent trends linking transfer pricing to broader societal issues, including money laundering and development challenges. This mapping exercise culminates in a strategic research framework that encourages future inquiry into the tensions between internal management accounting and external tax policy.