Impact Investing and Social Enterprise Sustainability: A bibliometric Review of Global Research Trends and Future Agenda
Abstract
This study presents a systematic bibliometric analysis of 87 Scopus-indexed publications on impact investing and social enterprise sustainability published between 2013 and 2026. The study aims to explore the intellectual structure, thematic evolution, and emerging research trends within the field. Using bibliometric techniques and VOSviewer software for keyword co-occurrence analysis, the study identifies four major thematic clusters: investor motivations and decision-making criteria, social enterprise financing and crowdfunding, impact measurement and social value creation, and sustainability and policy frameworks. The overlay visualization reveals that foundational themes such as social entrepreneurship and social investment dominated earlier publication years (2018–2020), while sustainable development, social stock exchange, and impact measurement have emerged as the most active recent research frontiers (2022–2024). Density analysis confirms that impact investing and social enterprise constitute the highest-intensity research zones, with social finance, crowdfunding, and social entrepreneurship forming a well-developed secondary layer. Citation analysis identifies the most influential scholarly contributions, with Maximilian Höchstädter and Andreas Scheck (2015), as well as Othmar M. Lehner and Alex Nicholls (2014), representing foundational references that continue to shape subsequent research. The findings provide a comprehensive map of the field’s intellectual landscape, trace its temporal development, and highlight knowledge gaps that remain underexplored. Furthermore, the study outlines a future research agenda centered on impact measurement standardization, cross-national institutional comparison, digital finance innovation, and the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations within impact-oriented investment strategies. This bibliometric review contributes to a deeper understanding of how impact investing supports the long-term sustainability and scalability of social enterprises in evolving global economic contexts.
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References
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