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.
Highlights
Scholars and practitioners alike are concerned with the quantity and quality of entrepreneurial activity in a society
Policymakers concerned with economic development have sought to identify policy ‘levers’ with which to encourage higher levels of entrepreneurial activity resulting in economic growth and job creation (Audretsch and Link 2012)
We introduce a methodology for measuring entrepreneurial ecosystem elements and the quality of regional entrepreneurial ecosystems and present empirical findings from a study of entrepreneurship in twelve regions of the Netherlands
Summary
Scholars and practitioners alike are concerned with the quantity and quality of entrepreneurial activity in a society. Borrowing from biology, the metaphor of an entrepreneurial ‘ecosystem’ is increasingly used by scholars (Stam 2015; Spigel 2017; Acs et al 2017) and practitioners (Feld 2012; Isenberg 2010) for understanding the context for entrepreneurship in particular territories (countries, regions, cities). The model is informed by and extends previous conceptual and empirical work on the functional attributes or indicators of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Using this conceptual framework, we introduce a methodology for measuring entrepreneurial ecosystem elements and the quality of regional entrepreneurial ecosystems and present empirical findings from a study of entrepreneurship in twelve regions of the Netherlands. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of this entrepreneurial framework for advancing theory and policy practice, and how the measurement instrument can be applied in other territories
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