Tracing entrepreneurship theory development in business and tourism: a bibliometric approach

Purpose This study aims to conduct a comprehensive review of existing panel studies within the specific domains of business entrepreneurship, tourism entrepreneurship and interdisciplinary entrepreneurship research. Its objectives are to identify critical theoretical gaps and to pinpoint under-researched topics, levels of analysis and areas of inquiry. By addressing these limitations, the study proposes a novel and innovative research agenda designed to advance entrepreneurial theory. Design/methodology/approach We performed a comprehensive bibliometric analysis using multi-stage Boolean searches in different databases, combined with Biblioshiny in RStudio and AI-assisted validation. Our three-stage search strategy employed complementary approaches: (1) business entrepreneurship analysis yielding 384 relevant studies from 1,423 initial records, (2) interdisciplinary entrepreneurship research capturing over 2,000 results and (3) tourism entrepreneurship analysis identifying 226 specialized documents. Findings The analysis reveals significant theoretical gaps in entrepreneurship research. Micro-level decision-making processes, strategic planning and intellectual property management remain underdeveloped clusters. Limited integration exists between individual-level findings and macro-economic outcomes like economic growth and employment. Tourism entrepreneurship shows particular fragmentation, with entrepreneurship themes isolated from major research clusters including sustainability, technology and crisis management. Originality/value This study’s agenda is novel in advocating for specialized longitudinal methods to investigate under-explored micro-level phenomena like decision dynamics. It uniquely proposes theorizing across micro-meso-macro levels to link entrepreneurial activity to economic outcomes. A significant, specific contribution is its systematic identification of critical gaps isolating tourism entrepreneurship from vital research on technology, sustainability and crisis management, providing a targeted foundation for future theoretical integration and innovation.