Anchor Organizations as Change Agents in Nascent Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: An Ecosystem Governance

Abstract

Recently, entrepreneurial ecosystems have become one of the major themes among entrepreneurship scholars and regional policymakers worldwide. Hoping to increase prosperity, politicians are keen to develop thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems in their region to foster the creation and growth of innovative startups. While the number of academic publications about entrepreneurial ecosystems has drastically increased in the last few years, understanding of mechanisms of how entrepreneurial ecosystems emerge and develop over time remain mostly unknown. The current research status calls for further investigations on the governance of nascent entrepreneurial ecosystems. Entrepreneurial ecosystems can be governed mainly in two distinctive ways; top-down and bottom-up governance. This study explores hybrid governance mechanisms by shedding light on a particular type of anchor organizations that intertwines these two different governance approaches. We theorize this function of anchor organizations by understanding them as “ecosystem change agents”. As a research setting, this study selected the Windhoek entrepreneurial ecosystem and conducted a single case study. Based on the single case study, this study derives a set of research propositions to conceptualize the functions of anchor organizations. We conclude this paper with limitations, practical implications, as well as research outlook.