Entrepreneurial ecosystem elements

Abstract

There is a growing interest in ecosystems as an approach for understanding the context of entrepreneurship at the macro level of an organizational community. It consists of all the interdependent actors and factors that enable and constrain entrepreneurship within a particular territory. Although growing in popularity, the entrepreneurial ecosystem concept remains loosely defined and measured. This paper shows the value of taking a systems view of the context of entrepreneurship: understanding entrepreneurial economies from a systems perspective. We use a systems framework for studying entrepreneurial ecosystems, develop a measurement instrument of its elements, and use this to compose an entrepreneurial ecosystem index to examine the quality of entrepreneurial ecosystems in the Netherlands. We find that the prevalence of high-growth firms in a region is strongly related to the quality of its entrepreneurial ecosystem. Strong interrelationships among the ecosystem elements reveal their interdependence and need for a systems perspective.

Diversity, innovation and entrepreneurship: where are we and where should we go in future studies?

“…In order to prevent introducing harmful policies, the authors stress the importance of taking into account the economy's absorptive capacity when deciding what policy to implement. Stam and van de Ven (2019) seek to critically review the literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems as well as introducing a conceptual framework for measuring such ecosystems. An entrepreneurial ecosystem consists of various actors and factors that enable or hinder entrepreneurial activities within a, e.g., region, city, or country.…”

“…The entrepreneurial ecosystem concept, however, is still loosely defined. Stam and van de Ven (2019) propose an integrated model that connects the components of entrepreneurial ecosystems with entrepreneurial output and welfare outcomes. The authors introduce a methodology for measuring the quality of entrepreneurial ecosystems, by creating an index out of 10 ecosystem elements, and use it to examine the entrepreneurial ecosystem in 12 regions of the Netherlands.…”

“…6 This diverse set of components, external to the individual entrepreneur, is essential for the choice of a person to become an entrepreneur and for the likelihood of an entrepreneurial success (Nijkamp 2003;Van de Ven 1993). Examples of elements are culture, education and universities, and institutions (Brown and Mason 2017;Pugh et al 2019;Stam 2015;Stam and van de Ven 2019). A system perspective is beneficial when many elements are interrelated and operate simultaneously.…”

Entrepreneurial ecosystems: towards a systemic approach to entrepreneurship?

“…The discussion about boundaries includes not only the spatial dimension of EEs but also their components. A large part of the EE literature has focused on identifying the key components of particular EEs in the past (Isenberg, 2010;Klingler-Vidra et al, 2016;Spigel, 2016;Stam & van de Ven, 2019). Although some studies go beyond listing components of EEs (e.g., Feldman, 2001;Mack & Mayer, 2016;Malecki, 2018), this is identified as one of the main limitations of the current EE literature (Auerswald, 2015;Mack & Mayer, 2016;Roundy et al, 2018).…”

Rethinking Strategy for SMEE Support in the Light of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

“…The combination of different financial models for financing is vital for the entrepreneurial ecosystem, while the finance is seen (by entrepreneurs, also) as a development hindrance. It also stresses that supportive measures have to be in line with local conditions, although they are predominantly of a general character [7,8].…”