What has been researched on Social Business in the world?A contribution to growth in the field

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify, organize and analyze worldwide scientific production on social businesses (SB). It presents the results of a bibliometric study combined with a systematic literature analysis. We analyzed 204 academic articles on the subject, from four different sources: (i) articles published in journals with high impact factors; (ii) most cited articles as per Google Scholar; (iii) articles addressing topics related to SB; and (iv) articles from the Social Enterprise Journal, specialized in the subject. Results point to remarkable recent growth in the field of SB, both theoretically and empirically. In addition, this study presents the main pieces of work, countries, institutions, research questions, methodology and results found in the SB literature. Studies have concentrated around six main categories: (1) understanding SB, through different approaches, concepts and models; (2) governance and relationships with stakeholders; (3) attempts to increase practical references and samples within the field; (4) organizational learning, structure and critical factors for success and failure of SB; (5) metrics, indicators and social impact generated by SB; and (6) legislation of different countries and how it relates to SB.