Central Bank Mandates and Accountability Mechanisms: A Bibliometric Study

Abstract

Debates over responsibility and legitimacy have intensified as central banks have broadened their powers beyond price stability to include financial stability, crisis management, and sustainability goals. Using information from the Scopus database, this study offers a thorough bibliometric analysis of studies on central bank responsibility conducted between 1975 and 2026. Using R and VOSviewer, 444 journal articles were examined using performance analysis and scientific mapping methods. The results show a consistent increase in publications, especially during global financial crises, with Sweden showing the highest average citation impact and the United States dominating in research production. Important journals, prominent writers, and prevailing theme clusters like monetary policy, accountability, central bank independence, and the European Central Bank are noted. The entire amount of study is still little despite growing scholarly interest, indicating important gaps. The paper emphasizes that in order to maintain central bank credibility in the face of growing mandates, stronger and more flexible accountability structures are required.