This paper advances a Theory of Change (ToC)-based framework to assess the fragmented literature on Tourism Social Entrepreneurship (TSE), an emerging field centred on inclusive, place-based social transformation through tourism. Moving beyond conventional systematic literature reviews, it proposes a five-step, conceptually guided approach to assess how existing studies contribute to the impact pathway: from context and inputs to outputs, outcomes, and impacts. The review surfaces explanatory insights and persistent oversights including two cross-cutting issues: the black box problem (theoretical opacity around mechanisms) and the attribution problem (methodological ambiguity in causal inference). By foregrounding assumptions and tracing mechanisms, the ToC framework offers a structured, strongly conceptualised, replicable approach to deepen explanation and guide future research in TSE and other impact-oriented domains.