Vahan Avetikyan

Type of the article: Research Article

Understanding the alignment between public interest and academic research is increasingly relevant in the context of global sustainability challenges. This study aims to investigate the relationship between societal attention, as measured by Google Trends, and scholarly output on renewable energy and the shadow economy. Using bibliometric data from Scopus and Web of Science alongside global Google Trends data from 2004 to 2025, the analysis employed Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients, Granger causality, and distance correlation to assess the strength, direction, and form of association between public search trends and academic activity. The results reveal a significant Granger-causal relationship from public searches on “renewable energy” to academic publications, with F-statistics above 5.2 (p < 0.01), and strong positive correlations (Pearson r = 0.72; Spearman ρ = 0.69; distance correlation = 0.63). In contrast, the terms “informal economy” and “feed-in tariff” demonstrated weak or inconsistent associations, with correlations below 0.25 and statistically insignificant causality tests (p > 0.1). Cross-country comparisons further highlighted uneven alignment, with India showing high search intensity (Google Trends index > 75) but relatively low publication volume (< 2% of global output). At the same time, South Africa displayed closer coherence, with both indicators moving in tandem (r ≈ 0.61). These findings underscore scholarly research’s partial and asymmetric responsiveness to public demand, varying significantly by topic and geographic context. Moreover, while Google Trends offers robust signals of societal interest, disparities in digital access and literacy reduce its universality, pointing to critical underexplored research gaps with direct policy relevance.

Acknowledgment
This study was prepared as part of the project supported by the National Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic, the project 101127491-EnergyS4UA-ERASMUS-JMO2023-HEI-TCH-RSCH. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. This research was funded by the grants VEGA 1/0689/23 “Sustainable growth and the geopolitics of resilience in the context of crisis prevention” and VEGA 1/0254/25 “Artificial Intelligence and FDI-invested Business Service Centers: Selected Macroeconomic and Corporate Aspects”.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
As renewable energy is now central to decarbonization and energy security, understanding how financial indices, green bonds, and venture capital steer capital flows has become crucial. This article aims to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric and science-mapping analysis of scholarly research on financial indices, green bonds, and venture capital in the context of renewable energy, to reveal the intellectual structure, thematic trends, and research gaps most relevant to investment management and financial innovations. Based on a Scopus dataset of 299 articles published between 1991 and 2023, the study employs Bibliometrix in R, standard performance metrics, and network-mapping techniques for co-authorship, co-citation, and keyword co-occurrence analysis. The results indicate a marked acceleration in publication activity after 2012, accompanied by rising citation rates and the emergence of a distinct research domain at the intersection of renewable energy and finance. This domain is characterized by a small core of journals and authors that account for a disproportionately large share of output and impact. Country analysis reveals a strong dominance of advanced economies, particularly the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Italy. At the same time, many regions with substantial renewable energy potential remain underrepresented. Thematic and conceptual mapping shows that “investments” form the central organizing concept of the field; financial indices and stock-market linkages between fossil and clean-energy assets constitute a mature, densely connected cluster; green bonds and sustainable finance appear as a rapidly expanding frontier; venture capital and early-stage finance, though still peripheral, are gaining prominence in connection with policy stability, innovation support and market design.

Acknowledgments
The project was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme based on the Grant Agreement under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie funding scheme No. 945478 - SASPRO 2, Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences (VEGA 2/0003/23), and Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (0123U101920), and the project 101127491-EnergyS4UA-ERASMUS-JMO2023-HEI-TCH-RSCH. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Education and Culture Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.