New Venture Creation: Evolving Research Themes, Integrative Frameworks, and Future Pathways

Over the past few decades, research on new venture creation (NVC) has expanded significantly, resulting in a fragmented and unsynthesized body of knowledge. While earlier studies have attempted to integrate the literature through top-down approaches, a valuable yet underutilized alternative is to map the intellectual structure of the field using quantitative, bottom-up analyses. This method helps reveal key subfields, their development over time, and underexplored research areas. In this study, we apply a hybrid approach that combines structured literature mapping with in-depth content analysis to present a comprehensive framework of the NVC domain. Our analysis of 473 articles identifies six major research clusters: “Conceptualization,” “Individual Triggers,” “Social Enablers,” “Contextual Enablers,” “Venture Emergence Engagement,” and “Performance, Growth, and Survival.” These clusters represent the central thematic streams of the literature over the past 43 years. Through a thematic analysis of landmark studies focusing on antecedents, decisions, outcomes, theories, contexts, and methods, we develop an integrative framework of the field and offer directions for future research.