Exploring Human Capital Research Trends in Higher Education: A Bibliometric Analysis (1900-2022)

The main goal of this paper is to investigate bibliometric analysis using keywords, to identify top authors and documents in higher education research, and to uncover prevalent topics related to human capital as well as examine regional differences. The study analysed a total of 25,488 publications filtered according to specific criteria and identified 495 frequently used keywords. The popularity of concepts related to human capital and regional differences throughout research were confirmed by the literature review. The groundwork for this topic’s research identified the most cited publications with Tommaso Agasisti being the most published author and Oded Galor as the most renowned author. The findings from current research trends highlight human capital as crucial for scholars and practitioners interested in the field of human and intellectual capital, helping them determine and direct their efforts into its development, along with emphasizing the regional differences throughout literature.