Sustainable entrepreneurship research in emerging economies: an evidence from systematic review

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the current state of knowledge of sustainable entrepreneurship (SE) and to gain more insights from the articles originated from the emerging economies. This paper also sets an agenda for future research in this knowledge domain. Design/methodology/approach The authors perform a systematic literature review by analyzing the primary studies related to SE originating from emerging economies from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. This review scrutinizes a total number of 45 studies to explore the current state of research in this knowledge domain from such economies. Findings Overall, this review finds that SE research is still at the nascent stage, especially in the context of emerging economies. The authors elicit a few sub-themes, within the SE research, such as individual-level factors, organizational-level factors, institutional-level factors and cultural and social factors. Research limitations/implications The authors present a few limitations of this study. Firstly, this study uses articles from the Scopus and Web of Science only. Secondly, this systematic review is limited to the articles originated from emerging economies of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Thirdly, this review gives overall picture of the SE research in emerging economies and the same in other economies is not in the scope of this study. Practical implications The findings of this study will be helpful to the researchers to locate avenues for future course of research in SE field. This study helps the policymakers and educational institutions of emerging economies understand and ingrain sustainability element in entrepreneurship, and thereby helps them to fulfill sustainable economy and sustainable development goals. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind in the field of SE in emerging economies. This review gives more insights on the state of SE in the emerging economies, as these economies can significantly contribute to the realization of Sustainable Development Goals.