Sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems: an emerging field of research

Abstract

While the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems is now a prominent topic and an important stream in entrepreneurship research, the question how ecosystems can specifically promote sustainable entrepreneurship and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations is a neglected issue. With the papers in this special issue, we address this research gap, serving as a catalyst sparking more research at the nexus of contextualization of entrepreneurship and sustainability. This research has, since the 1990s, developed in three waves; the explicit linkage to SDGs and the investigation of impacts of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems in achieving societal and environmental goals might be considered as the "fourth wave." We first introduce relevant research streams and concepts for investigating sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems. Then, we explain why this special issue and its articles represent a fourth wave in entrepreneurial research ("sustainability"). Thereafter, we provide an overview of the papers of this special issue and then end with a brief consideration of future research demands.

Designing for sustainable work during industrial startups—the case of a high-growth entrepreneurial firm

“…Furthermore, entrepreneurial research highlights the importance of building relationships and stakeholder collaboration in startup ecosystems (Audretsch et al 2011;Bank et al 2017;Volkmann et al 2019). The findings describe examples of stakeholder collaborations regarding technological and production process solutions but also organisational aspects which had impact on working conditions.…”

“…'Active engagement' in entrepreneurship is another important soft value for success in entrepreneurial organisations which is also strongly associated with well-being due to higher degree of autonomy and individual self-organisation in entrepreneurial work compared with 'non-entrepreneurial' work (Shir et al 2019). In nascent entrepreneurial communities, it is important to build relationships and social networks enabling fruitful synergies (Audretsch et al 2011), where a dynamic collaboration between interdependent actors and stakeholders in an entrepreneurial ecosystem are found vital for success (Bank et al 2017;Volkmann et al 2019;Audretsch and Belitski 2017). Hence, innovative collaborations with entrepreneurial suppliers, customers, government, incubators, and public funding organisations for accelerator programs are strongly recommended.…”

How to Support Start-Ups in Developing a Sustainable Business Model: The Case of an European Social Impact Accelerator

“…In the entrepreneurial ecosystem, start-up accelerator programs (hereafter we refer to them merely as accelerators) are relevant stakeholders that can serve as intermediaries [7,8]. They are a type of business incubation program, which attracts and supports start-ups in their development, while providing access to resources, knowledge, and important stakeholders [9].…”

“…Currently, little is known about how ecosystem stakeholders such as accelerators can specifically promote and contribute to sustainable entrepreneurship [8]. In this context, social impact accelerators (SIAs) are a relatively new phenomenon, since research has instead focused on traditional accelerators that are for-profit and target high-growth startups in technology sectors [10].…”

“…For the complementation of economic indicators, Volkmann et al propose that new metrics for the measurement of sustainable impact are necessary, e.g., in terms of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) [8]. In this context, boundary setting by considering in which areas a business is active and how far its impact can and should reach is very important for measuring its ecological impact [1].…”