Purpose: Entrepreneurship and small businesses in Russia have been of academic interest for over 15 years. This paper seeks to bring together current knowledge concerning the phenomenon, and to suggest further directions for research.

Design/methodology/approach: The study consists of a systematic review of 48 refereed empirical articles on entrepreneurship and small businesses in Russia.

Findings: From the articles reviewed it appears that entrepreneurs in Russia use non-material resources to overcome the financial and institutional obstacles, which still seem to afflict the market. However, theoretical and methodological issues are, in many cases, poorly reported and this undermines the scientific rigour of the studies they report.

Research limitations/implications: Because of the wide scope of the studies reviewed the results included here provide somewhat broad-brush descriptions of the phenomenon. However, it is believed that the findings are valuable for an understanding of the current situation for entrepreneurship and small businesses in Russia. The findings may also stimulate more in-depth research in this increasingly important topic.

Originality/value: To the best of one's knowledge, no literature review on this topic has previously been published in academic journals.