From gravity models to supply chain resilience: a bibliometric analysis of free trade agreement research

Purpose This study examines the evolution and intellectual structure of research at the intersection of free trade agreements (FTAs), gravity models, and supply chain resilience. It aims to determine how resilience- and logistics-oriented perspectives have developed alongside traditional gravity-based trade research and to assess the extent to which these research streams are becoming conceptually integrated. Design/methodology/approach A bibliometric analysis was conducted using scientific publications indexed in Scopus between 1995 and 2026. The study combines performance analysis and science-mapping techniques, including keyword frequency analysis, co-word network analysis, centrality measures, thematic mapping, and life-cycle analysis. These methods are used to identify the field’s intellectual structure, dominant research themes, conceptual linkages, and emerging directions. Findings The results show that gravity models remain the principal analytical foundation of FTA research, while trade agreements, trade liberalization, and international trade continue to constitute the core of the field. Supply chain management emerges as an important bridging concept connecting this established trade-policy literature with more specialized themes related to resilience, risk, sustainability, and disruption. The findings therefore suggest a gradual broadening of the research agenda from conventional assessments of trade creation and efficiency toward questions of vulnerability, shock transmission, adaptation, and recovery. They also highlight growing opportunities to incorporate logistics-related dimensions, such as trade continuity, supplier dependence, transport reliability, and network resilience, into future gravity-based evaluations of trade agreements. Originality/value This study contributes by systematically identifying the conceptual and methodological bridge between gravity-based FTA research and supply chain resilience and logistics research, two streams that have largely developed in parallel. It shows how established gravity-based approaches can provide a foundation for future research assessing not only whether FTAs increase trade and market access, but also whether they influence supply-chain exposure, adaptability, and recovery under external disruptions.