Drivers and success factors of digital entrepreneurship: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

ABSTRACT

Digital entrepreneurship is playing an increasingly prominent role for economic growth and development. However, the most effective methods of facilitating it remain unclear, as scholars continue to debate the factors that contribute to its success. We therefore conducted a comprehensive systematic literature review by searching the Web of Science and Scopus databases for empirical studies examining the drivers of successful digital entrepreneurship. By this first review paper on this topic, we were able to identify a total of 45 different drivers, encompassing subjective and objective factors at the individual, organizational, and regional/national levels. While certain drivers were specific to the digital context, such as smart-city initiatives, many aligned with those identified in broader research on entrepreneurial success, such as the educational attainment of founders. To enhance our understanding and facilitate action in promoting digital entrepreneurship, we propose a multi-level conceptual framework that places greater emphasis on specific digital-related drivers.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital entrepreneurship
• digitalization
• review
• success factors
• framework

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ For these three papers, we used all the tools in our possession including library services, peers from different institutions, Researchgate, and writing e-mails to the original authors. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in obtaining these.

² Recently, considerable scrutiny has been directed toward MDPI’s journals, such as Sustainability. In certain instances, academic associations (e.g., predatoryreports.org) or individual institutions, for example in Norway and Finland, have labeled several of these journals as predatory or, at the very least, questionable. While this ongoing debate persists, it is worth noting that the journal in question continues to be included in prominent academic metrics databases, namely Clarivate’s Impact Factor and Scopus’ CiteScore, and is also featured in various rankings. As of now, these factors still warrant considering the journal a legitimate source. Additionally, we found the articles we encountered to be highly enlightening, offering valuable insights and contributing to a wealth of findings. Consequently, we have made the decision to retain them within our corpus.

³ Officially the “Academic Journal Guide” of the Chartered Association of Business Schools, in academic parlance usually only “The ABS Ranking.”