A Bibliometric Analysis of Digital Entrepreneurship

In a digitally driven society, the present research endeavor aims to map the topic of digital entrepreneurship, based on the existent research published in the Web of Science database for providing a systematic and integrative review of the literature, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. To achieve the set goal, a bibliometric study was undertaken using the VOSviewer software and a systematic review of the academic literature was conducted. Performing the bibliometric analysis on 3366 publications indexed in the Web of Science has returned 178 relevant terms, divided into 6 clusters. In brief, the clusters feature the effects of information and communications technologies adoption on economic activities, with general debates on the reconsideration of traditional business, sharing economy, and performance, with reference to digital entrepreneurship. The focus on digital instruments (i.e., digital platforms, social media, Internet) and the need for dynamic capabilities are seen as promoters of adopting new business models and strategies for increasing firms’ performance. Additionally, the emergence of a digital entrepreneurial ecosystem, having as a starting point elements such as smart city, big data, and artificial intelligence, was analyzed, as well as the creation of new start-ups, in the context of the digital divide. The research limitations relate to the use of a single database, a restrictive Boolean interrogation, the spotlight on a time frame when the debate is still growing, and also, the insufficient space allocated to the measurements of aspects. Thus, the future research directions will expand the analysis to other databases for achieving a more comprehensive bibliometric approach and will include another period, for comparing the results. The value of the article is represented by the up-to-date literature on digital entrepreneurship analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. The originality of the topic and the gap discovered in prior research on digital entrepreneurship led us to adopt an integrated approach, using a bibliometric analysis.