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Financial literacy in SMEs: a bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review of an emerging research field

DOI:10.1007/s11846-022-00556-2
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Antonio Molina-García at University of Malaga
Antonio Molina-García
Julio Diéguez-Soto at University of Malaga
Julio Diéguez-Soto
Teresa Galache-laza at University of Malaga
Teresa Galache-laza
Marta Campos-Valenzuela at University of Malaga
Marta Campos-Valenzuela
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Abstract and Figures

Research on financial literacy in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has raised a significant amount of interest in recent years and has evolved both rapidly and unevenly. This paper is the first to provide a reliable, consistent, and up-to-date review of financial literacy in SMEs through the combination of a bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review. Specifically, and after identifying the most influential agents involved in this field of research, we carried out a co-occurrence analysis of the authors’ keywords, co-citation analysis of the cited references and a subsequent in-depth analysis of a total of 88 documents published between 2005 and 2020. The findings indicate that SME financial literacy research has been primarily analysed regarding the following topics: (1) performance, (2) access to finance, (3) innovation, (4) risk attitude and entrepreneurship, (5) owners-managers, and residual contributions. The theoretical foundations that support this research structure have been (1) the resource-based view, (2) pecking order theory, agency theory and trade-off theory, (3) the entrepreneurial orientation perspective, human capital theory and upper echelon theory, and (4) planned behaviour theory. Subsequently, we developed an integrative framework on which to base proposals of important avenues for future research. Thus, this review offers a thorough and comprehensive overview of this emerging research field.
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Review of Managerial Science
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-022-00556-2
1 3
REVIEW PAPER
Financial literacy inSMEs: abibliometric analysis
andasystematic literature review ofanemerging research
field
AntonioMolina‑García1 · JulioDiéguez‑Soto1 · M.TeresaGalache‑Laza1 ·
MartaCampos‑Valenzuela1
Received: 1 July 2021 / Accepted: 22 April 2022
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022
Abstract
Research on financial literacy in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has raised a
significant amount of interest in recent years and has evolved both rapidly and une-
venly. This paper is the first to provide a reliable, consistent, and up-to-date review
of financial literacy in SMEs through the combination of a bibliometric analysis and
a systematic literature review. Specifically, and after identifying the most influential
agents involved in this field of research, we carried out a co-occurrence analysis of
the authors’ keywords, co-citation analysis of the cited references and a subsequent
in-depth analysis of a total of 88 documents published between 2005 and 2020. The
findings indicate that SME financial literacy research has been primarily analysed
regarding the following topics: (1) performance, (2) access to finance, (3) innova-
tion, (4) risk attitude and entrepreneurship, (5) owners-managers, and residual con-
tributions. The theoretical foundations that support this research structure have been
(1) the resource-based view, (2) pecking order theory, agency theory and trade-off
theory, (3) the entrepreneurial orientation perspective, human capital theory and
upper echelon theory, and (4) planned behaviour theory. Subsequently, we devel-
oped an integrative framework on which to base proposals of important avenues for
future research. Thus, this review offers a thorough and comprehensive overview of
this emerging research field.
Keywords Financial literacy· SMEs· Bibliometric analysis· Systematic literature
review
JEL Classification I22· A20· A29· M21
* Antonio Molina-García
antoniomolina@uma.es
Extended author information available on the last page of the article
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
... Pese a su relevancia, el estudio de la alfabetización financiera desde esta óptica empresarial es un campo emergente (Molina-García et al., 2022) y no existe un consenso acerca de cómo definirla. Adoptando una perspectiva gradual, tal y como recomiendan Lusardi y Mitchell (2013), y multidimensional, la OCDE lanzó en 2021 la OECD/INFE Survey Instrument to Measure the Financial Literacy of MSMEs, una encuesta que consistía en el primer intento de medir la alfabetización financiera de los propietarios/gestores de MyPE de forma armonizada en diferentes países. ...
... Solo muy recientemente su análisis se ha abordado también desde la perspectiva empresarial, poniendo el énfasis en la persona propietaria o gestora del negocio. Ello hace que esta corriente de la literatura se encuentre en una fase emergente (Molina-García et al., 2022). ...
... Pese a la importancia del tema, el estudio de la alfabetización financiera desde la óptica empresarial es un campo emergente (Molina-García et al., 2022). Utilizando la información procedente de la OECD/INFE Survey Instrument to Measure the Financial Literacy of MSMEs en su versión para España, este trabajo ha diagnosticado el nivel de alfabetización financiera de los propietarios/gestores de MyPE, relacionándolo con las principales características sociodemográficas de estos. ...
LA ALFABETIZACIÓN FINANCIERA Y LAS CARACTERÍSTICAS SOCIODEMOGRÁFICAS DEL EMPRENDEDOR: UN ANÁLISIS DE LAS PEQUEÑAS EMPRESAS ESPAÑOLAS
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... Individual factors are among the most critical of these determinants, particularly for Saudi SMEs [8]. Thus, recent research on financial literacy across SMEs, perhaps as a trait of successful owners, reflects significant growth in interest in the construct [9]. Financial literacy facilitates SMEs' management of corporate risk, reduces their financial restrictions, and has a positive impact on firms' innovativeness, recognition of opportunities, and enterprise performance [9]. ...
... Thus, recent research on financial literacy across SMEs, perhaps as a trait of successful owners, reflects significant growth in interest in the construct [9]. Financial literacy facilitates SMEs' management of corporate risk, reduces their financial restrictions, and has a positive impact on firms' innovativeness, recognition of opportunities, and enterprise performance [9]. According to research [10], financial literacy is a crucial knowledge resource for decision-making. ...
... In this regard, recent research has highlighted a critical need for Saudi entrepreneurs to explore personality traits (e.g., financial literacy and entrepreneurial competency), as these are directly associated with business success [1]. Unfortunately, research on financial literacy is still at an early phase and hence remains uneven and inadequate [9]. According to research [10], how financial literacy affects enterprise sustainability remains insufficient. ...
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This paper investigated the influence of entrepreneurial competency and financial literacy on sustainable small enterprise performance. We simultaneously investigated the mediating role of entrepreneurial resilience on the association between competence and financial literacy with sustainable business performance. We used a quantitative method for collecting data from 220 small business entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia using an online questionnaire. The collected data were analysed with the help of PLS-SEM. The results reveal that financial literacy significantly positively affects entrepreneurial competency and resilience. Entrepreneurial competency has a significant positive effect on Saudi SMEs' entrepreneurial resilience and sustainable performance. Finally, entrepreneurial resilience was simultaneously found to have a considerable impact on sustainable performance while mediating the effect of financial literacy and competency on sustainable performance across Saudi SMEs. In line with Saudi Vision 2030, with its profound focus on entrepreneurship and developing a financially independent entrepreneurial community, this research contributes to creating economic opportunities for local entrepreneurs managing small enterprises. Apart from extending the body of knowledge, this research can support policymakers in formulating relevant strategies to encourage SMEs that have been worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic to perform sustainably. Several other implications for financial institutions and entrepreneurs have also been drawn.
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... Moreover, recent studies in the same nature have focused on particular contexts or areas. For instance, Molina-García et al. [18] have shed light on financial literacy in SMEs; Bartolacci et al. [19] have discussed sustainability in SMEs; and Ragazou et al. [20] have studied digital transformation in the field of SMEs. In particular, there is no study in small business literature that describes the current streams of research, missing gaps and future research directions based on the relationships among financial resources, IT and networking and SMEs' internationalization. Hence, our research fills this important gap by examining the most productive countries, journals and authors in the field. ...
... Hence, we really wanted to consider these documents in our study. Additionally, many recent bibliometric studies in the same field have selected Scopus as a major database [18,20]. ...
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Over the last several decades, the internationalization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has become an interesting research topic in business and entrepreneurship literature. The massive literature in the field has increased demand for systematic reviews, bibliometric studies and meta-analyses. However, up to date, there has been no systematic literature review, particularly on the role of finance, information technology (IT) and network ties in SMEs’ internationalization. Our research fills the gap and reveals the idiosyncrasies in the literature by conducting a systematic literature review to understand evaluation, scholarly debate, past and current research streams and white spaces for future researchers. We employed 262 documents (1997–2022) and utilized performance analysis and co-occurrence analysis for each area separately and then combined them. The database indicates that research in the particular areas started in 1997, but scholarly interest has been noted since 2006 and onward. We further identified the most influential documents, countries and journals in the fields of finance, IT and network ties and SMEs’ internationalization. Moreover, we conducted a co-occurrence analysis and identified past and current research streams in the fields. Finally, we created an integrated framework to identify white spaces and future research directions. Our insights show that SMEs should use finance, IT and network ties as complementary, rather than exclusive, to boost their internationalization process.
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... CEO risk-taking propensity has been demonstrated to be a driver of technological innovation (García-Granero et al., 2015;Kraiczy et al., 2014). However, no research has measured the mediating effect of MCS and the risk-taking attitude of CEO on the relationship between FL and SME technological innovation (Molina-García et al., 2022). In this vein, the current study responds to the following research questions: Does MCS have a mediating effect on the relationship between CFL and the technological innovation of SMEs? ...
The influence of CEO’s financial literacy on SMEs technological innovation: the mediating effects of MCS and risk-taking
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Previous literature showed mixed results about the impact of CEOs’ financial literacy (CFL) on small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) innovation. This relationship can be motivated by relevant variables, which are missing in the previous literature and make a difference as mediators. In this sense, based on the theoretical framework related to upper echelon theory and resource-based view, this study focuses on the mediating effect of risk-taking attitude and management control systems (MCS) variables. Empirical data from 310 SMEs gathered using a qualitative research questionnaire are analyzed using structural equation modeling methodology. Specifically, estimations are carried out considering the partial least square method. Findings show that MCS and managers’ risk attitudes fully mediate the relationship between financial literacy (FL) and innovation. Between these two mediating variables, the implementation of MCS stands out because it also enables the mediating effect of CEOs’ risk-taking in the CFL–technological innovation relationship. As the results do not support the significant direct relationship between FL and risk attitude, they confirm an indirect effect through MCS. Furthermore, based on the study findings, SMEs’ directors and owners, business associations, and public authorities can improve SMEs’ technological innovation by implementing training programs and policies to foster CFL. They can also acknowledge the interdependency between organizational factors and individual characteristics to enhance SMEs’ technological innovation.
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... En la literatura consultada hay algunos estudios bibliométricos sobre Pymes, que permiten tener una visión de cómo realizar una investigación sobre esta temática (Kumar et al, 2019;Casado-Belmonte et al, 2020;Child et al, 2022;Molina-García et al, 2022;González et al, 2022). Bertahud et al, (2020:33) realizaron un análisis bibliométrico de las Mipymes del sector industrial mueblero en México, destacando que con la implementación de la propiedad industrial las empresas pueden recurrir a la generación de valor a través de estudios de mercado y estrategias de mercadotecnia, con el fin de promover sus marcas y sus productos. ...
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... However, pure quantitative analysis cannot deeply understand the current and development trends of the research field. Therefore, it is necessary to combine quantitative and qualitative analysis to conduct a systematic and comprehensive literature review (Molina-García et al., 2022). ...
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