The Interplay Between Business Models and Entrepreneurial Capabilities in Aging Populations: Insights from Emerging Economies

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

I reviewed the paper entitled “The Interplay Between Business Models and Entrepreneurial Capabilities in Aging Populations: Insights from Emerging Economies” and based on my knowledge I have following observations”

Strengths

• The title is apt and addresses an underexplored niche—entrepreneurial potential in aging populations within emerging economies. The focus on Peru’s Pensión 65 program adds unique contextual value.
• The abstract is well-structured, clearly outlining objectives, methodology, and key findings.
• The methodology is the mixed-methods approach (quantitative-qualitative) and use of Spearman’s Rho for correlation analysis are appropriate for the research questions.
• Hypothesis testing is comprehensive, though factor analysis for scale validity should be included to strengthen construct validity.

Areas for Improvement:

1. Introduction:

   - Enhance relevance by integrating global and national SDG features to better align with the study’s context. 

   - Clarify and refine the study’s objectives to make them more accessible to beginners. 

2. Research Design:

   - Justify the choice of a quantitative, non-experimental, correlational, cross-sectional design, including rationale for using null/alternative hypotheses. 

3. Sample Clarity:

   - Disclose gender distribution within the sample of 146 older adults for demographic transparency. 

4. Presentation of Results:

   - Tables 4–19 are repetitive; consolidate or summarize key trends (e.g., “% scoring ‘low’ across dimensions”) to improve readability. 

5. Discussion:

   - Strengthen by incorporating comparative studies (national/international) to contextualize findings. 

   - Add actionable recommendations (e.g., “Training programs should integrate BMC frameworks to bridge knowledge gaps”). 

6. Conclusion & Future Directions:

   - Rewrite future directions to explicitly link them to the study’s outcomes. 

Suggested References for Contextual Enrichment:

Asad, M., Sulaiman, M. A., Awain, A. M., Alsoud, M., Allam, Z., & Asif, M. U. (2024). Green entrepreneurial leadership, and performance of entrepreneurial firms: Does green product innovation mediates? Cogent Business & Management, 11(1), 2355685. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2355685

Allam, Z., George, S., Yahia, A.K., Salim, A.S. and Ali, N. (2024).  A Bibliometric Review of Psychological Contract Breach Studies in India from 2011 to 2023. 2024 ASU International Conference in Emerging Technologies for Sustainability and Intelligent Systems (ICETSIS), Manama, Bahrain, 2024, pp. 386-390, doi: 10.1109/ICETSIS61505.2024.10459647

 

 

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors, your research paper addresses a meaningful gap in research and policy by highlighting the entrepreneurial potential of elderly populations in underserved areas. I found your research very interesting. I commend you for the rigorous and ethically sound methodological approach; your effort to ground the study in real-world data from Pensión 65 adds depth and originality. But the paper needs some strengthening by clarifying theoretical linkages between constructs, reducing repetition in the literature review and methodology, and improving narrative coherence across sections. The following are detailed suggestions/recommendations to enhance the validity and reliability of your paoer:

1. Consider condensing the abstract and clearly stating the novelty, key results, and implications.

2. In your Introduction section, consider better contextualizing the SDGs (especially SDGs 5, 8, and 10, closely related to your research) within current global challenges and more succinctly clarifying the research gap.

3. Also, explicitly state the research problem and its contribution to scholarship and policy in the introduction.

4. Try to reduce redundancy in your Literature Review, as some sources are overexplained or repeated. I suggest you organize it thematically, such as aging and entrepreneurship or BMC in vulnerable populations, which will enhance coherence.

5. Consider more clearly articulating how the Business Model Canvas and entrepreneurial capacities interact conceptually and empirically in your theoretical framework.

6. I suggest you connect each of the nine business model components more explicitly to relevant entrepreneurial competencies. As stated above, you should integrate a brief discussion of how the SDGs (particularly SDGs 8 and 10) frame your work's theoretical contribution.

7. I recommend you synthesize and thematically structure the literature review. In other words, try to avoid redundancy. For example, you might consider merging overlapping content across entrepreneurship and gender subsections. For instance, streamline repetitive citations; synthesize insights from existing studies rather than listing them individually.

8.  Also, consider structuring the literature thematically. For instance, aging + entrepreneurship, business model adoption in informal economies, and rural development.

9. I'd encourage you to improve your theoretical framework by strengthening the link between business model theory and the entrepreneurial capability in the aging population.

10. In the methodology section, clarify whether the Likert scales used are ordinal or interval and justify the use of Spearman’s rho accordingly.

11. Also, consider reducing the length of the operationalization matrix in the main body, as it interrupts the narrative flow, especially when it spans multiple pages or contains very detailed descriptions of each construct and indicator.

12. In the result section, many result tables and descriptive summaries are overly detailed and repetitive. Consider summarizing grouped findings. I suggest you summarize key results more narratively to avoid overreliance on raw table data. You might consider linking each significant correlation, such as initiative → value proposition, to implications in context. You can also integrate select visuals, such as bar charts, to improve the clarity of findings.

13. Also, provide a clearer narrative synthesis linking results to each specific hypothesis.

14. In the discussion section, consider comparing your findings more explicitly with prior studies in Peru or globally to highlight similarities and contrasts. Strengthen comparisons with national and international literature.

15. Also in the discussion, it would be important to reflect on why certain business model dimensions, sich as cost structure and partnerships, showed weaker understanding.

16. In the Policy Implications, I suggest you offer more precise, actionable recommendations tailored to programs like Pensión 65. This section makes general observations, which are broad and somewhat abstract. Differentiate between short-term interventions (e.g., workshops) and longer-term structural reform (e.g., integration of entrepreneurship into social policy). Policy readers, especially in applied journals such as World, are looking for specific, implementable suggestions that reflect your findings. The goal is to move from "what" needs to be done to "how" and "where" it can be done.

17. Under the conclusions and future research section, consider emphasizing your paper’s key takeaway more strongly. For instance, the elderly entrepreneurship can drive inclusive rural development.

18. Keep future research suggestions focused and prioritize the most impactful, such as longitudinal or mixed-method designs.

19. In the Limitations and Future Research section, explicitly state data constraints and discuss possible endogeneity or omitted variable bias.

20. Make sure to review your paper for minor grammatical errors, awkward phrasing, and overly long paragraphs.

21. Ensure consistent formatting of citations and tables (APA or journal-required style).

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper investigates the relationship between entrepreneurial capacities and the implementation of business models among older adults enrolled in the Pensión 65 program in Llaylla, Satipo. The topic is relevant and aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Major Recommendations:

• The Introduction section is well structured, and the literature used for analysis is relevant. However, I recommend excluding Table 1, as it is not pertinent to this section.

• Regarding the structure of the paper (lines 120–159), please consider reducing the length, as too much information is provided and may affect readability.

• Consider adding a Literature Review section where the analyzed variables are clearly described. This would enhance the conceptual clarity of the study.

• In Subsection 2.1, please consider rephrasing the title for better clarity and alignment with the content.

• Consider merging Sections 2 and 3 into a single section titled "Materials and Methods", as this would streamline the structure and reduce redundancy.

• For Table 2, please include the source of the data in a separate column to enhance transparency and credibility.

• For Tables 4 to 13, consider integrating them into a single comprehensive table to improve readability and conciseness. The same recommendation applies to Tables 14 to 19.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Your revisions to your research paper are sound, and I believe they have improved its validity and reliability, enhancing its value to the body of knowledge in the discipline.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

No additional comments