A systematic literature review on social entrepreneurial intention

Abstract

Social entrepreneurship is a growing research topic which has recently received much attention; correspondingly, social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) is also a subject of great interest. This paper aims at providing a systematic literature review on SEI that outlines state-of-the-art extant research, clarifies predominant research trends, and subsequently suggests further research directions in the field. A total of 36 papers addressing SEI published between 2010 and 2018 from the Web of Science and Scopus databases are analyzed. The results provide an overall picture of the main areas and themes prevalent in SEI research. Specifically, 36 papers are classified into four main research categories: ‘core model, methodological and theoretical issues’; ‘personal-level factors/variables’; ‘context and institutions’; and ‘the social entrepreneurial intention-to-behaviour process’. The themes and relevant gaps in each of these categories are also identified. In addition, the authors propose research directions to further enhance the understanding of SEI.