DISABILITY-INCLUSIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Entrepreneurship has increasingly been promoted as a pathway for enhancing the economic participation, autonomy, and social inclusion of persons with disabilities. However, entrepreneurial participation does not necessarily result in secure or sustainable livelihoods, particularly when disabled entrepreneurs continue to face financial, institutional, technological, and social barriers. This study conducts a systematic literature review to synthesize existing knowledge on disability-inclusive entrepreneurship and its relationship with sustainable livelihood outcomes. Following the PRISMA 2020 framework, 15 peer-reviewed Scopus-indexed studies published between 2009 and 2026 were systematically identified, screened, and analyzed. The selected studies were examined through thematic and narrative synthesis, focusing on entrepreneurial motivations, individual capabilities, social and relational resources, financial inclusion, institutional accessibility, and livelihood outcomes. The findings reveal four major themes: entrepreneurship as a response to labor-market exclusion and a pathway to autonomy; the role of entrepreneurial capabilities and resilience; the importance of social networks and mentoring; and the critical influence of financial and institutional inclusion. The review further identifies a central tension: entrepreneurship can enhance flexibility, self-determination, and job satisfaction while still producing unstable income, limited business growth, and persistent economic vulnerability. Accordingly, sustainable disability-inclusive entrepreneurship depends not only on individual entrepreneurial agency but also on accessible finance, supportive institutions, social capital, reasonable accommodations, and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems. This review contributes by repositioning disability entrepreneurship from a narrow self-employment perspective toward a multidimensional sustainable livelihood framework and proposes directions for future research on resilience, business continuity, intersectionality, digital entrepreneurship, and long-term livelihood security.