The present article is a systematic review of the growth of technological catch-up literature using advanced bibliometric techniques and a database derived from a collection of major studies based on a WOS search. The 5626 obtained documents were analyzed using both co-occurrence and co-citation criteria. The results show that the problem of technological catch-up appeared in the academic literature in the 1960s but only reached a considerable volume in the 1980s. It grew and expanded in the 1990s. At the beginning of its formation in the 1980s, there were two completely independent routes: macroeconomic growth and technological capabilities in developing countries, which became interconnected in the 1990s. In the following decade, firm-level studies developed with an emphasis on organizational capabilities, paving the way for extensive studies in the 2010s that examined the internationalization of later-stage companies. Thus, studies from macro-level economics with an emphasis on economic growth have clearly shifted to industry-level studies with an emphasis on internationalization and technological advancement. In this context, four intellectual clusters—economic growth, innovation systems, knowledge management, and industrial dynamics—are interacting. The main areas conducting research on technological catch-up are economics, business, and management. Technological catch-up can also be considered an interdisciplinary field involving other disciplines such as regional studies, environmental studies, operational research, and social sciences. The key terms associated with this field include innovation, research and development, and productivity.
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