Social change, institutional pressures and knowledge creation: A bibliometric analysis

•We model the impact of social change and institutional pressures on knowledge creation.•The setting examined is business and economics science in Eastern Europe.•A bibliometric analysis suggests significant increase in research productivity.•We note dilemmas pertaining to the content and quality of knowledge created.•Iinternational research cooperation has got positive quality effects.

Contemporary academic environment can be characterized by an overwhelming trend toward enhancing research productivity and knowledge creation. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of radical social change and subsequent institutional pressures on internationally relevant knowledge creation. The setting examined is business and economics science in Eastern Europe. Using a case study of Slovenian business schools and deploying a bibliometric analysis we find that research productivity is increasing significantly. We note however dilemmas pertaining to the content and quality of knowledge created. Further, we find that international research cooperation has positive quality effects. From a theoretical perspective, we argue that radical social change was not mirrored by such change in normative institutions, whereas recent changes in regulatory institutions seem to have a substantial positive effect on research performance.