Sustainable entrepreneurship and the field of entrepreneurship: a literature review

Abstract

This paper aims to trace the evolution of entrepreneurship over time, from classical entrepreneurship to sustainable entrepreneurship. Research on sustainable entrepreneurship is still developing in the shadow of classical entrepreneurship, due to the youth of entrepreneurship as a scientific field and the lack of sufficient empirical data to support the work. We have chosen to frame our approach in a temporal perspective, examining the evolution of research in classical entrepreneurship over the last 40 years, while simultaneously exploring the emergence and development of research in sustainable entrepreneurship. This approach allows us to cross-reference the approaches of researchers for both phenomena and propose a conceptual framework for the study of sustainable entrepreneurship. The historical analysis also provides the necessary perspective to evaluate the results of previous research and better address emerging issues. Furthermore, we seek to answer the question: "What are we talking about?" in order to precisely define sustainable entrepreneurship and distinguish it from other forms of entrepreneurship related to sustainable development, such as ecopreneurship or social entrepreneurship. This clarification is essential to better understand the specificities of sustainable entrepreneurship and to guide future research in this rapidly growing field.