Purpose Given the significant economic and social role of microenterprises, there is a need for more nuanced research on this prevalent size of businesses. This study aims to provide a comprehensive literature overview of microenterprises, elucidate the diverse definitions and terminologies associated with them, and identify key academic fields that are essential to public policy, yet insufficiently explored in the context of microenterprises. Design/methodology/approach This scoping study provides a literature overview of the concept of microenterprises, and sheds light on evolving research and existing research gaps. Findings The study clarified the concept of microenterprise, emphasizing the variations in terms and definitions used across studies. It identified three academic fields – international entrepreneurship, innovation management and high-growth enterprises – that are pertinent to microenterprises but remain inadequately addressed in the existing literature. Research limitations/implications The study proposes that researchers should be aware of the variations in terms and definitions used and that the unique features of microenterprises should be highlighted more systematically to achieve a more coherent and cumulative knowledge of them. Practical implications Both practical and academic discussions would benefit from a cumulative contribution of the different thematic areas of entrepreneurship research to the specific field of microentrepreneurship research. Social implications Political decision-makers would benefit from a more coherent knowledge of microenterprises based on the cumulative contribution from different thematic areas within entrepreneurship research. This would strengthen microentrepreneurship as a distinct field of research. Originality/value This novel study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by being the first attempt to clarify the concept of microenterprise and to provide an overview of the specific field of microentrepreneurship research beyond individual entrepreneurship research themes.
Saarela et al. (2025) studied this question.