The importance and interdependence of key bioeconomy concepts: A bibliometric analysis

Environmental well-being has recently been put at risk due to unsustainable industrial practices. The relevant decision-makers have developed policies to support a greener approach in the economy. This paper aims to present a complete and comprehensive connection between the key concepts of the economy based on biological resources from both empirical and analytical perspectives by highlighting the structure, importance, and evolution. Through bibliometric research and network mapping analysis, we have revealed the most popular concept among researchers and countries, and the current trend for each term considered. Currently, there is no comparative study on the linkage between bioeconomy, circular economy, knowledgebased economy, bio-based economy, green economy, and bioeconomics, but only taken as separate concepts, thus being difficult to assess the significance and popularity of a term over another and to track the evolution over time. Our results are meant to cover the gap around the interconnected terms in bioeconomy and to enhance the current conceptual frameworks.