This study examines the relationship between academic research and economic and institutional conditions in EU27 countries, in the context of climate change risks, fiscal capacity and economic stability. Although the literature on these topics has expanded significantly, limited attention has been paid to reflecting the structural realities implicit in research findings. To address this gap, the paper combines bibliometric analysis with an overlay analysis of institutional indicators and a gap mapping analysis, applied to EU27 countries over the period 2010–2024. The bibliometric dataset is based on a sample of articles extracted from the Web of Science and complemented by a Composite Socio-Economic and Institutional Index (𝐶𝑆𝐸𝐼i), constructed using GDP per capita, government effectiveness and tax revenues, to capture the institutional and economic capacity of countries. Integrating these approaches allows us to assess whether scientific output reflects national socio-economic conditions, going beyond the limitations of separate analyses. The relationship between socio-economic and institutional capacity and research intensity is analysed both visually, through a scatter plot, and statistically, using the Spearman correlation coefficient. The results confirm the expansion of the field, but the study’s central contribution indicates an insignificant correlation between institutional capacity and scientific production, not supporting the hypothesis of a direct alignment between development level and research intensity. These results suggest the need to reorient the research agenda and allocate academic resources to underrepresented countries and regions to ensure better alignment between scientific priorities and real public policy needs in the field under analysis.
- Open Access
- Article
Decoupling Knowledge from Reality: Climate Risks, Fiscal Capacity and Institutional Asymmetries in The EU
Author Information
Received: 18 Jun 2026 | Revised: 16 Jul 2026 | Accepted: 27 Jul 2026 | Published: 07 Aug 2026
Abstract
Keywords
climate change risks | fiscal capacity | economic stability | institutional capacity | bibliometric analysis | research intensity | knowledge–reality gap | European Union
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