Trends and Patterns in the Nexus Between Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation: a Bibliometric Review and Research Agenda

Scholars’ interest in social entrepreneurship (SE) and social innovation (SI) has been growing in recent decades. Despite the literature’s contribution to the scientific maturity of these fields via rigorous bibliometric reviews, whether social innovation occurs within social entrepreneurship is still unclear. The extant reviews also remain limited by their use of traditional bibliometric indicators. We therefore address these theoretical and methodological limitations via a bibliometric analysis of the intersection of these two theoretical domains, combining co-citation analysis, historiography, and bibliographic coupling. Demonstrating the recent theoretical evolution of social innovation research under the social entrepreneurship umbrella, we document the beginning of a new trend that can open new research pathways. Thus, we contribute to academic research by documenting the theoretical developments, clusters, and groups of interests at the intersection of SE and SI. Finally, our suggestions for future research may support the proliferation of and cross-pollination among these studies.