A review of the international business policy-turn studies: a societal perspective

Purpose – This study aims to provide an integrated overview of international business (IB) policy-turn studies, suggesting avenues for future research that could potentially strengthen IB field’s relevance to policymakers, practitioners and broader society. Design/methodology/approach – This study reviews emerging policy-turn studies that address societal concerns in the IB literature by combining content analysis with bibliometric methods using the bibliometrix R-package and VOSviewer software. Findings – Drawing on 275 articles published between 2015 and 2024 in the Web of Science database, the authors identified three main research clusters: global value chain, sustainable development and institutional dynamics, revealing how IB scholarship can extend beyond firm-centric concerns to engage with complex social challenges. Originality/value – By mapping the clusters, the study’s findings offer a clearer sense of what constitutes a policy-turn from a societal perspective and demonstrate the potential of such research in addressing pressing social issues IB activities are facing.