Building the bundle: a configurational review of social value creation in business ecosystems

Business ecosystem research increasingly targets inclusion and other societal outcomes, yet results remain uneven because the conditions preceding social value creation (SVC) are under-specified. This review consolidates evidence using a mixed inductive–abductive protocol. We code 236 peer-reviewed studies (2007–2025) into 24 antecedent markers grouped into six families: governance and orchestration (GO), digital platforms and transformation (DP), social capital and inclusion (SC), sustainability and circular economy (SU), knowledge and capabilities (KC), and theoretical expansion (TH). Heat maps and clustering show SVC emerges from bundles—no single practices—linking antecedents to mechanisms (orchestration levers, platform affordances, capability routines, inclusion processes, sustainability instruments) and then to outcomes (inclusion, civic engagement, circular/environmental gains). Translation is moderated by boundary conditions: institutional capacity and legitimacy; data governance for privacy, security, and provenance; calibrated openness and incentives; and feedback loops for learning/reinvestment. The central contribution of this review is to provide the first evidence-weighted, auditable framework that identifies which configurations of antecedents reliably precede SVC across heterogeneous ecosystem contexts. Minimum-viable SVC requires GO–DP–KC plus SC or SU; advanced setups add both and codify conditions.