The Frugal Scalability Paradox in Emerging Innovation Ecosystems

This integrative systematic review addresses the existing gap in understanding how frugal innovation can scale sustainably in emerging economies. Through a mixed-methods analysis based on the PRISMA 2020 protocol, 142 documents published between 2019 and 2025 in Scopus and Web of Science were examined. Scientific and grey literature. The methodology combined bibliometric mapping using VOSviewer, qualitative analysis with NVivo, and a Delphi panel of 15 experts, allowing for the triangulation of theoretical, empirical, and prospective evidence. The findings reveal a transition from a phase of contextual adaptation (2019–2021) to one of systematization and governance (2022–2025), highlighting that the so-called «Frugal Scalability Paradox»—the tension between hyper-contextualization and standardization—constitutes the main obstacle to the sustainability and expansion of frugal models. This study contributes both theoretically and practically by offering a taxonomy of value mechanisms, proposing a hybrid governance framework, and outlining a research agenda focused on inclusion, technological modularity, and impact funding. Frugal innovation is redefined here as a paradigm of intelligent tension management, capable of balancing local relevance and global replicability.