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Sustainable Business Model Innovation Research: Bibliometric Structures and the Emerging Frontier of Regenerative Business Models (2016–2025)

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT This study presents a bibliometric mapping of sustainable business model innovation (SBMI) research, analysing 961 Scopus‐indexed documents (2016–2025) retrieved via a title‐field Boolean query and a four‐stage screening protocol. Circular, regenerative, and resilient business models are treated as distinct, related perspectives rather than sequential stages. The corpus shows a three‐phase growth trajectory: emergence, acceleration, and consolidation, with an overall compound annual growth rate of 24.5%. Knowledge production concentrates in European institutions, led by Sweden, the UK, and Italy, anchored by Lund University. Co‐citation (four clusters) and keyword co‐occurrence (five clusters) analyses reveal a field anchored in Osterwalder and Pigneur's business model canvas. The regenerative perspective remains bibliometrically marginal, appearing as an author keyword in only 2 of 961 documents. The study clarifies the boundaries separating these perspectives and proposes a structured research agenda, positioning regeneration as an emerging, not accomplished, frontier for sustainable business model innovation scholarship.

Source: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management

DOI: 10.1002/csr.71085

Authors: Merzoug Fetah, Boukhatem Lakhdar, Vincenzo Basile, Yassine Remache

Institutions: University Mohamed Boudiaf of M'sila, Mohamed-Cherif Messaadia University, University of Naples Federico II

Language: English

Topic: Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Subfield: Strategy and Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

OpenAlex ID: W7221828947

FWCI:

Cites: 49

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