Green Entrepreneurship Research: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Analysis and Knowledge Mapping

Green entrepreneurship has emerged as a vital research domain that integrates entrepreneurial innovation with environmental sustainability and sustainable economic development. This study aims to systematically map the global research landscape of green entrepreneurship using bibliometric techniques based on 589 publications retrieved from the Scopus database covering the period 2002–2026. The dataset was analyzed using Biblioshiny and VOSviewer to examine publication trends, influential authors, leading publication sources, international collaboration networks, thematic evolution, and keyword co-occurrence patterns. The findings reveal a remarkable annual growth rate of 20.09%, with a substantial increase in publications after 2020, indicating rapidly expanding scholarly interest in the field. China and India emerged as the most productive countries, while Sustainability (Switzerland) was identified as the leading publication source. The thematic and keyword analyses demonstrate that sustainable development, green economy, green innovation, entrepreneurial orientation, and environmental performance constitute the principal knowledge domains, whereas green entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurship education represent emerging research themes with considerable future potential. The study also highlights extensive international collaboration and the increasingly multidisciplinary nature of green entrepreneurship research, spanning entrepreneurship, sustainability, innovation, environmental management, and policy studies. The findings provide valuable insights into the intellectual structure, research trends, and future directions of green entrepreneurship, offering practical implications for researchers, policymakers, educators, and practitioners seeking to promote sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems.