Digital fiscal governance and reforms in developed and developing economies: A comparative bibliometric analysis

Digital fiscal governance and associated architectural reforms have fundamentally transformed tax administration, public financial management, and corporate revenue governance across advanced and emerging economies. Technological innovation has accelerated fiscal modernization, particularly following macroeconomic disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the academic literature remains fragmented across public governance, development economics, and international taxation perspectives. Drawing upon foundational paradigms established by Besley and Persson (2014) regarding state capacity and the modernization frameworks of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2021), this study conducts a comparative bibliometric analysis of digital fiscal governance reform scholarship indexed in Scopus and LENS between 2000 and 2026. Through co-occurrence network analysis and thematic clustering, five dominant research streams are identified: governance and crisis-driven digitalization; sustainable development and tax reform; competitiveness and productivity; globalization and political economy; and digital economy and administrative capacity building. Findings reveal a stark divergence between developed-economy research, which emphasizes technological optimization, and developing-economy scholarship, which focuses on institutional capacity building. The study proposes an integrative model of fiscal resilience linking digitalization, administrative capacity, revenue performance, development outcomes, sustainability, and fiscal resilience. The results provide theoretical synthesis and policy insights relevant to international tax governance and digital public administration.