Bibliometric Perspective On the International Scientific Production on Businesses with Social Impact

The rapid growth of research in the social impact business area, its emerging nature, and inspiration from different disciplines contribute to forming a very fragmented literature without dominant structures. Faced with this conceptual fragmentation and aiming to contribute to the strengthening of discussions in the academic environment, the present study proposes to carry out a bibliometric mapping of the scientific production built around the theme, considering international publications indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) between 1945 and 2020 to provide a comprehensive, longitudinal view of field development. The analysis of the evolution of publications; the authors who publish the most and the most cited; the most relevant articles; the most influential journals; the most frequent terms; and co-citation networks points out that there is a growth in academic production at a global level, marked by a wide variety of topics, the most relevant being: the tensions and dilemmas arising from the pursuit of paradoxical goals; the social and economic perspectives; behavioral/cultural dimensions; the variety of enterprises that fit this profile; the conceptual aspects; issues related to organizational hybridity; and the potential of these organizations in reducing social inequalities.