Eco-innovation and sustainable performance in micro, family, and bio-based ventures using systematic literature network analysis

Eco-innovation is increasingly recognised as a driver of firm performance in small and medium-sized enterprises, yet no systematic review has examined how it affects sustainable competitive advantage and business performance in micro-enterprises, family-owned ventures, and biomaterial-based businesses (bamboo, rattan, natural fibre). Following PRISMA 2020, a structured Scopus search identified 107 records (2015-2025); after screening, 15 studies met the inclusion criteria (13 primary empirical, one systematic review, one conceptual), while two abstract-only records were excluded at the full-text stage. The review integrates Theory-Context-Characteristics-Methodology (TCCM) narrative synthesis with VOSviewer bibliometric network mapping. Three research gaps are foregrounded. First, eco-innovation shows consistently positive associations with firm performance across developing-economy craft and SME contexts (with indicative path coefficients of 0.186-0.662), lending qualified support to the Natural Resource-Based View; these effects are conditional on prior environmental management capacity and eco-design investment thresholds. Second, the bibliometric network (35 keywords, four clusters) reveals five structural holes, including the complete absence of biomaterial-sector terms and family-succession constructs, confirming that eco-innovation research in bamboo, rattan and natural-fibre enterprises does not yet exist as an established empirical field. Third, 69% of primary empirical evidence originates from developing and emerging economies (Indonesia alone contributing three of the independent research sites), signalling an absence of evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North America. The review consolidates fragmented research streams and sets a concrete agenda for sustainable entrepreneurship in micro and bio-based ventures.