Baumol’s theory of entrepreneurial allocation has been widely utilized and cited by management and entrepreneurship scholars over the last three decades. Despite the increasing popularity, there is no systematic review of prior studies to integrate the literature, highlight the missing links, and provide avenues for future research. In this vein, we reviewed and contently analyzed 76 articles published from 2001 to 2018. In our systematic review, we (1) classified the articles in five main categories, (2) discussed studies within each category, (3) proposed a revised version of entrepreneurial allocation theory, and (4) outlined the research gaps and future research opportunities. Our review shows that beyond Baumol’s focus on the institutional factors, individual factors such as intention, talent, and perception together with entrepreneurial actions for dealing with institutional arrangements can also explain the allocation of entrepreneurial efforts, under-examined in prior studies. This opens novel avenues for future studies to further extend this promising research stream.
