A literature review for understanding entrepreneurial intention: call for study on potential research areas

This paper examined research studies to understand the antecedents and impact of entrepreneurial intention (EI) on the SME's growth. The literature review revealed that the focus of previous studies' discussion on entrepreneurial intention (EI) was mostly focused on the Western, Middle, and Far East countries. Petite empirical evidence is noticeable in Africa and Asia. Therefore, the role of entrepreneurial intention (EI) and the need to understand its impact on firms' value creation is yet to be explored exhaustively. In addition to it, empirical studies mostly revealed gaps in the selection of the right respondents, stages of venture creation, and the appropriate theory selection. Subsequently, results are frequently inconsistent and demand future studies to address gaps, particularly in the Asian context in countries like Pakistan to address the SMEs' sustainability issues. For that purpose, this paper highlighted research gaps in Pakistani SMEs and developed the urge to explore EI to rethink the nascent research angles on EI development. Thus, this paper is a wake-up call for empirical studies to assess the impact of EI in Pakistani SMEs where studies of this kind are rarely found in the literature.