Innovative Pathways to a Circular Economy: Entrepreneurship & Sustainability

Abstract

Purpose: The UN noted that entrepreneurship is essential for tackling issues related to sustainable development, coupled with innovation. This paper examines existing literature pertaining to "Sustainable Entrepreneurship" with the aim of delineating research directions within this field. Additionally, it investigates the impact of technology and innovation, along with entrepreneurial challenges and opportunities, on fostering a circular economy.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Google Scholar and ERIC are discovered for research papers/articles by searching the terms “sustainable entrepreneurship”, “sustainable Artificial Intelligence and entrepreneurship” and “sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation”. We employed a systematic literature review (SLR) technique to select a sample of 48 papers (that were published between the year 2000 and 2024) is extracted and then analyzed for underlying themes and trends in current research. 

Findings: Research papers are categorized in order to better understand the path of this field's research.

Originality/Value: The two most often used databases for literature reviews are Google Scholar and ERIC. The search terms "sustainable entrepreneurship" and "sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation" produce the greatest number of results when used in combination with these databases. The method we used was focused on identifying themes and sub-themes from the most cited papers from previous decades. In doing so, the researcher can identify patterns and knowledge gaps in the field.