Title: Entrepreneurial identity: a chronological and thematic literature review and research agenda

Authors: Ali Rostamian; Kamal Sakhdari; Armin Khaleghi Forghani

Addresses: Faculty of Governance, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran ' Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran ' Faculty of Management, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: Among the burgeoning and promising topics in entrepreneurship research, entrepreneurial identity (EI) is one of the most cutting-edge and fragile phenomena. While this novel field of study has strikingly attracted entrepreneurship scholars in the recent decade, no significant effort has been made to synthesise the literature. The lack of an overview of current knowledge and missing links in past studies encouraged us to conduct a systematic literature review of existing studies on entrepreneurial identity. To this end, focusing on chronological and thematic configuration, we aim to develop an integrative view of extant research by thematising the major subjects in the literature. The interrelationships between themes and sub-themes have been explored and prospective avenues for future research have been underlined through an integrative critical investigation of what we know about EI in the extant literature. In addition, we discuss the inadequacy of the literature in addressing four issues: lacking theoretical resources, the necessity for cultural understanding in contextualising studies, implications of emergent methodological approach and, finally, the importance of the social ontology of becoming. This, we believe, contributes to the literature of entrepreneurial identity by providing a synthesised understanding of prior studies and highlighting alternative paths for future research.

Keywords: entrepreneurial identity; systematic literature review; identity theories; critical entrepreneurship studies.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2025.149299

European Journal of International Management, 2025 Vol.27 No.3, pp.408 - 446

Received: 02 Aug 2020
Accepted: 06 Apr 2021
Published online: 24 Oct 2025 *

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