Abstract
After the launch of the United Nations’ Brundtland’s report in 1987, entrepreneurship has been promoted as one of the tools for achieving sustainable development. Since then, the studies in sustainable entrepreneurship have flourished and this topic has emerged as a subfield of entrepreneurship research. In order to examine the current stage of sustainable entrepreneurship (SE) research, this review utilized science mapping tools to analyze 712 Scopus-indexed documents written on the topic of sustainable entrepreneurship. This review assesses the size, publication evolution, and worldwide dispersion of research publications of this knowledge base as well as topics that have gained increased interest over the past few years. The review documented an emerging knowledge base, concentrated in Western developed societies. Sustainable entrepreneurship has evolved from earlier incarnations such as ecopreneurship and social entrepreneurship. Author co-citation analysis, three Schools of Thoughts (or three sub-themes) were identified in this knowledge base, namely Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurship, and Sustainability Innovation. This review aspires to provide a baseline bibliometric analysis of sustainable entrepreneurship research that both charts the evolution of this knowledge base and points towards productive lines of future inquiry.
Highlights
Scholars have examined entrepreneurship and its crucial role in economic development for several decades [1,2]
Analysis of High‐Impact Journals, Authors, and Documents This section analyzes the sources, scholars, and documents contained in the Scopus‐indexed sustainable entrepreneurship knowledge base. These analyses offer insight into patterns of knowledge production and dissemination on sustainable entrepreneurship
This section analyzes the sources, scholars, and documents contained in the Scopus-indexed sustainable entrepreneurship knowledge base
Summary
Scholars have examined entrepreneurship and its crucial role in economic development for several decades [1,2]. According to Schumpeter [1], economic progress results from ”creative destruction” caused by the recombination of resources of entrepreneurs. Over the past few decades, imbalanced economic development has tended to favor short-term economic gain and maximization of profits. Unanticipated effects of this approach include social and environmental problems such as inequality, poverty, depletion of natural resources, degraded environment, and pollution. The United Nations, governments, and business communities have increasingly banded together in support of sustainable development initiatives [5]
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