Defining networks in entrepreneurial ecosystems: the openness of ecosystems

Abstract

The paper draws on network theory to employ concepts of homophily and heterophily to investigate whether the presence of familiar, unfamiliar or a mix of actors in an entrepreneurial ecosystem is related to start-up rates. The empirical focus of this study is on 81 UK university entrepreneurial ecosystems and their outputs in terms of academic spinoff companies. The paper finds that university entrepreneurial ecosystems with access to actors of predominantly heterophilious character are associated with higher spinoff start-up rates. It is concluded that in stimulating the development of successful entrepreneurial ecosystems there is a clear need to focus on their openness to heterophilious actors, inclusive of other ecosystems. This is especially important in the context of network lock-in that may arise from dependence on homophilious ties. Plain English Summary Entrepreneurial ecosystems characterised by openness to diverse actors generate more firms, as shown in a study focusing on 81 UK university entrepreneurial ecosystems. The paper studies network character of actors in entrepreneurial ecosystems and whether this character is associated with start-up rates. Specifically, it focuses on the familiarity of actors, inspecting whether it is related to greater venture formations. In so doing, the study examines 81 UK university entrepreneurial ecosystems. It finds that university entrepreneurial ecosystems that generate more ventures are associated with having a presence of actors of unfamiliar character, drawing attention to the openness of ecosystems’ networks. The key implication of the study is in recognising the link between the ecosystem’s openness to diverse actors and its entrepreneurial performance.

Clusters as ecosystems: current trends and challenges, areas for prospective development of clusters in the agro-industrial complex

“…Currently, there is no generally accepted definition of a cluster in the business environment, and the existing diversity of approaches is formed from different areas of economic thought (regional economics, economic geography, managerial economics, economic theory). Much of the research on clusters is related to effective cluster policy and issues of its coordination with other national strategies and interests [6][7][8][9][10].…”

Ecosystem pipelines: Collective action in entrepreneurial ecosystems

“…Ecosystems recognise that entrepreneurship is a collective endeavour among the founding team and the actors around them, including mentors, support organisations, investors, corporations, universities and the government, who directly or indirectly support the entrepreneurship process and therefore, engage in collective entrepreneurship (Auerswald and Branscomb, 2003). Even though the presence and development of ties with diverse actors within an ecosystem help increase startup rates (Prokop and Thompson, 2022), we still know little about how ecosystem actors work collectively to assist entrepreneurs with starting and scaling their ventures despite considerable interest by both academics (Autio and Levie, 2017; Knox and Arshed, 2021; Porras-Paez and Schmutzler, 2019) and practitioners (Feld, 2012; Feld and Hathaway, 2020; Techstars, 2019).…”