Analysis of the scientific production on business ecosystems

Abstract

The approach of business ecosystems (BE) may be a sustainable alternative for economic activities. The objective was to conduct a bibliometric study of BE based on the Web of Science. There was a total production of 272 documents published from 1991 to May 2019, with peaks in 2007 and 2017. Thematic networks, records, and productivity were built by sources, countries, institutions, keywords, h-index, co-authorship, and co-citations. Findings indicate 587 authors, from 53 countries. The most productive journals have high impact levels. China produces the highest number of publications, but the United States and the United Kingdom have the highest number of citations. Innovation and strategy are topics related to BE. There are different perspectives to BE, and the theoretical foundations of the concept of BE are still under discussion, but some Eastern countries are already in the implementation phase. BE have a high potential of application for large-scale sustainable development.