Youth entrepreneurship : a systematic literature review of the domain and future research agenda

Abstract

PURPOSE : The purpose of this article was to review the existing literature on youth entrepreneurship (YE), focusing on the context, methodological and theoretical approaches employed, alongside any emerging themes on the subject. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APROACH : A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted, drawing on an evidence base of 77 articles identified from different databases. These articles were either published in Association of Business Schools (ABS list 2021 edition) or Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) listed journals. FINDINGS : The review revealed that the majority of research on the topic has been conducted in Africa, employing a quantitative methodology. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) has been the dominant theoretical lens used by scholars. The four major themes covered on the topic to date include (1) entrepreneurial motivations; (2) entrepreneurial intentions (EIs) and entrepreneurial attitudes (EAs); (3) entrepreneurial competencies, education, training, and support, and (4) innovation and technology adoption. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this SLR is the first review that addresses this fast-growing area of research. This paper incorporated insights on YE across academic disciplines. It also provided a nuanced discussion of the major themes covered in the research and suggested directions for future research.