Assessing the ideological homogeneity in entrepreneurial finance research by highly cited publications

Abstract

Entrepreneurs play crucial roles in global sustainable development, but limited financial resources constrain their performance and survival rate. Despite the global presence of entrepreneurship, the literature of entrepreneurial finance is suspected to be Western ideologically homogenous. Thus, this study aims at examining this phenomenon by employing the mindsponge mechanism and bibliometric analyses. 412 highly cited publications extracted from the Web of Science database are analyzed to find Western ideological dominance and low tolerance towards heterogeneity in entrepreneurial finance’s core ideologies. The dominance and low tolerance are consistent across author level, institution level, and country level, revealing strong evidence for the existence of Western ideological homogeneity. We recommend editors, reviewers, and authors diversify research topics proactively and enhance knowledge exchange to avoid shortfalls of ideological homogeneity. Moreover, the synthesis of the mindsponge mechanism and bibliometric analyses are suggested as a possible way to evaluate the state of ideological diversity in other scientific disciplines.