MIGRATION AND DEMOGRAPHIC AGEING NEXUS: A BIBLIOMETRIC APPROACH
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbnegotia.2025.4.02Keywords:
migration, population, demographic ageing, VOSviewer, bibliometric analysisAbstract
International migration and demographic ageing represent two of the most significant social transformations of the 21st century. The interdisciplinary interest shown in these topics reflects the major role of these phenomena in the remodeling of societies, with an emphasis on demographic reconfiguration, structural adaptation, social diversification, recalibration of public strategies and policies, and socio-economic sustainability. The present study performs a bibliometric analysis among a set of 615 articles identified after setting a series of filters in the OpenAlex platform, in order to determine the diversity of fields that have shown interest in the analyzed phenomena, the institutions and sources that have shown proximity in the conceptual approach, the degree of co-authorship between countries, and the identification of scientific communities affiliated with the same schools of thought. The phenomena of migration and demographic transition overcome the barrier of economic and social interest and are found in the concerns of separate fields, such as medicine, urban planning, legislative framework, public policies, production reconfiguration, the healthcare system, the education system, public finances, etc.
Article History: Received: June 17, 2025; Reviewed: November 20, 2025;
Accepted: December 5, 2025; Available online: December 18, 2025.
JEL classification: J10, J11, J14, J15, O15
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