Role of Entrepreneurship in Circular Economy: A Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) has emerged as a viable alternative to the traditional linear model with the aim of promoting sustainable development. Entrepreneurship serves as a cornerstone for unlocking groundbreaking circular business opportunities. Research on circular entrepreneurship is still in its early stages and consequently displays a certain level of fragmentation. This study aims to elevate the role of entrepreneurship in the discourse surrounding CE through a comprehensive literature review. The present research utilized the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)” framework to identify relevant articles from the SCOPUS database. Furthermore, it conducts a “bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review” to explore the intersection between the CE and entrepreneurship research. Performance analysis reveals trends in academic publications, leading journals, significant contributions, authors, and countries, while science mapping combines co-words and thematic assessments. Similarly, cooccurrence analysis produced various clusters that illustrated the links between CE research and entrepreneurship, management, and innovation areas, along with key insights obtained from co-authorship network analysis.