Title: Entrepreneurship research in Iran: a systematic review of the empirical studies

Authors: Afsaneh Bagheri; Morteza Akbari

Addresses: Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran ' Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: A highly growing body of research has attempted to explore various aspects of entrepreneurship. Yet, there is limited well-organised knowledge on entrepreneurship research interest areas and gaps in the empirical literature specifically in developing countries including Iran. This study aims to categorise the main research interests and identify the specific themes and the gaps in the empirical research on entrepreneurship in Iran using the systematic literature review method. A total of 236 articles on entrepreneurship published in between 1995 to 2012 were identified in 74 national and international academic journals. The findings suggested six main research interest areas of Iranian researches including entrepreneurship education and training, SMEs, organisational and corporate entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship process, entrepreneurship development at rural, national and international levels and social entrepreneurship and family business. This paper concludes with a systematic summery of the research interests, gaps in the body of literature and directions for future studies.

Keywords: entrepreneurship research; systematic literature review; SLR; Iran; entrepreneurship education and training; small and medium sized enterprises; SMEs; organisational and corporate entrepreneurship; entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship process; social entrepreneurship; family business; entrepreneurship development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIR.2019.097250

International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 2019 Vol.18 No.2, pp.208 - 241

Received: 07 Nov 2016
Accepted: 29 Oct 2017
Published online: 07 Jan 2019 *

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