Global perspectives on environmental policies: a bibliometric journey into eco-efficiency research

This article evaluates academic production that relates environmental policies and regulations with eco-efficiency. We analysed a set of academic productions collected in the Web of Science database through bibliometric analysis. Our research generated 422 documents published between 1998 and 2023. The analysis was performed using the VOSviewer and Citespace software. The results showed that this literature has expanded recently, emphasising researchers and institutions from China, the USA and Western European countries. In addition, the present study demonstrated that the most recent publications are related to empirical research, emphasising spatial econometric methods, mainly in energy, pollutant emissions, and green productivity. Such results contribute to possible literature reviews and help to outline the focus of academic research in a specific field, in addition to recognising emerging trends and frontiers of knowledge.