Knowledge Spillover Theory Research Articles

Integrating ecosystems: The synergistic effects of digital innovation hubs on start-up growth

Background: South Africa faces significant socio-economic challenges, with unemployment rate. This highlights the need for economic strategies to generate employment, and start-ups are crucial in this context, as they foster innovation, create jobs and increase competitiveness.Aim: The study aims to investigate how digital innovation hubs (DIHs) influence start-up growth, focusing on their roles and functions.Setting: The research is set within the context of DIHs in Africa, specifically examining the 12 DIHs established under the AEDIBNET programme.Methods: A qualitative methodology was employed, using semi-structured interviews with six DIH managers and 28 entrepreneurs or start-up founders.Results: Supporting start-up growth, holistic development support and integrated ecosystem enhancement by DIHs emerged as key themes. These factors foster a conducive environment for innovation and sustained growth.Conclusion: Digital innovation hubs play a crucial role in supporting start-up growth by providing comprehensive and integrated support systems. Their functions collectively enhance start-up growth.Contribution: This study fills a critical gap in the existing literature on DIHs, offering empirical insights into their impact on start-up growth within the African context. The findings provide valuable implications for policymakers, practitioners and researchers aiming to foster the growth of start-ups. Additionally, the study integrates and expands upon knowledge spillover theory, institutional theory and cluster theory. It demonstrates how DIHs facilitate knowledge sharing, provide formal support structures, foster informal networks, and create and sustain entrepreneurial clusters.

The implications of the EU cohesion policy instruments and cross-border cooperation projects on social entrepreneurship in Euroregions

The current paper investigates the implications of the EU Cohesion Policy instrument Interreg through the implementation of cross-border cooperation projects on social entrepreneurship. Cross-border cooperation projects are implemented in Euroregions and invest in new knowledge and innovative solutions in policy priorities spread over social, environmental, and economic domains. Policy priorities in social and environmental domains overlap fields of play where social entrepreneurs operate. We build on the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship and use a quantitative design to investigate the influence of EU-funded cross-border cooperation projects on the number of social enterprises in Luxembourg. We employed a rolling window analysis with ARIMA on a sample of 207 cross-border cooperation projects implemented between 2000 and 2020. We predicted social entrepreneurial activity in Euroregions in Luxembourg using investments through the EU Cohesion Policy in the social, environmental, and economic domains and identified a positive relationship in the social domain. The current study shows that investments in the social domain positively and significantly predict social entrepreneurial activity, supporting the critical role of the EU Cohesion Policy on social entrepreneurship. Our study discusses how social entrepreneurship can benefit from EU cross-border cooperation projects as recipients of potential knowledge spillovers.

Weak vs Strong Knowledge Spillover Effects. Evidence from Geographic Distribution of Innovative Startup in Italy

This paper introduces the concepts of weak and strong knowledge spillover effects within the context of the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship. In this context, the fundamental idea of our proposition is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the factors and conditions promoting and supporting entrepreneurship development at the regional and provincial level using a unique unbalanced panel database, consisting of 9242 Italian Innovative startups for the period 2008-2018. In general terms, we argue that the evidence from our unbalanced panel dataset indicates that these dynamics are as follows. First, spillover effects deriving from competition are initially strong at the province level, and later decay to weak spillover effects at the regional level. Second, in terms of specialization (intra-industry) spillover effects, they are initially strong at the provincial level, and later become weak at the regional level. Third, spillover effects deriving from diversity (inter-industry) are predominantly strong at the regional level, yet weak at the provincial level of aggregation. At the provincial level, higher levels of competition result in strong knowledge spillover effects leading to higher new firm formation, with weak knowledge spillover effects deriving from specialization. Furthermore, in line with the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship, the existence of non-homogeneous distribution of opportunities and related knowledge spillover effects create heterogeneity of patterns of new firm formation across different units of geographic aggregation. These results provide evidence of constraint potential for growth that remains a puzzle and challenge for academics and policymakers.

The dawn of geographically unbounded entrepreneurial ecosystems

Entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) that support entrepreneurship are seen as tightly spatially bound, top-down systems. They are exogenous to entrepreneurs but endogenous to the jurisdiction's policymakers and other powerful stakeholders. Taking a knowledge spillover theory approach, this paper offers a new perspective on these systems that better fits the globalized, digitalized, and increasingly geographically unbounded realities of entrepreneurship. Resources and knowledge increasingly harbor synergies across, not just within, the spatial bounds of EEs. We describe geographically unbounded EEs (UEEs) as border-spanning, entrepreneur-centered, and hybrid or digital community-centered. These structures support entrepreneurs in assembling knowledge and resources across multiple geographically bounded EEs. We identify four interrelated dimensions of UEEs, namely, resources provided, inclusiveness, spread of activities, and governance, and show how each varies among geographically bounded EEs. The key insight of our study is that UEEs create conditions where the EE becomes increasingly endogenous to the entrepreneur. Such a shift prompts new theoretical questions about entrepreneurial capabilities and the role of policy.

Big data analytic capabilities, intrapreneurship, and service innovation behaviors: a moderated mediation model

ABSTRACT Building on resource-based theory, entrepreneurial orientation theory, and intrapreneurship knowledge spillover theory, this study examined the relationship between big data analytics capabilities and service innovation as mediated by intrapreneurship behavior and moderated by strategic renewal behavior. Data were collected from 442 employees at 33 five-star hotels in Turkey and analyzed using structural modeling analysis. The findings revealed that big data analytics capabilities positively affect service innovation both directly and via intrapreneurship behavior. Strategic renewal behavior positively moderated the positive relationship between big data analytic capabilities and intrapreneurship behavior. This indicates that the impact of big data analytic capabilities on service innovation is influenced by intrapreneurial behavior, and that this influence is strengthened by strategic renewal behavior, that is, the organization's ability to adapt its strategies and processes to incorporate new ideas and innovations.

From independent inventor to inventor entrepreneur: an application of the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship

From independent inventor to inventor entrepreneur: an application of the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship

Strategic impact of knowledge entrepreneurship on foreign direct investment in Nigeria

The study investigated the strategic impact of knowledge entrepreneurship on Foreign Direct investment in Nigeria. This study examined the rate of foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Nigeria because the country has witnessed massive downward sliding of foreign direct investment in recent times. To solve this problem, this study is aimed at ascertaining the nature of impact Knowledge entrepreneurship has on foreign direct investment. The study also investigated the cause of the massive downward sliding of foreign direct investment in Nigeria. This study adopted the survey design. Simple random sampling technique was used in selecting the 200 staff of selected foreign direct investment firms in Nigeria. Findings revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between knowledge entrepreneurship and Foreign Direct investment in Nigeria. This means that the knowledge of Foreign Direct Investment opportunity in another country will accelerate the action of the entrepreneur in taking advantage of the opportunity to make profit in that country. This is in tandem with Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship. Knowledge entrepreneurship has the potency to attract foreign direct investment hence the positive and significant correlation. The study also found that knowledge entrepreneurship has resulted in technological transfer to Nigeria and employment generation as well as increased profitability and market share of the FDI operating in Nigeria.The study concludes that knowledge entrepreneurship is a viable business model in Nigeria and that the reason for the massive and downward sliding of Foreign Direct Investment in Nigeria currently is as a result of the national challenges of high insecurity and exchange rate volatility.

Knowledge creation and knowledge exploitation influencing employee venturing behaviours at the national level: the moderating role of national entrepreneurial values

ABSTRACT The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship (KSTE) posits that knowledge created but under-exploited in incumbent firms endogenously generates entrepreneurial opportunities for employee venturing behaviours (EVBs), which occur when employees quit to start new businesses. Thus, at the national level the gap between knowledge creation and knowledge exploitation by all incumbent firms shapes the volume of knowledge employees can use to venture out. In addition, national entrepreneurial values, which include overall innovative, proactive, and risk-taking values in particular countries, may explain variations in entrepreneurial activities across countries. By analysing a multi-source dataset collected from 52 countries for a sample period that runs from 2011 through 2017, this study reveals that at the national level knowledge creation positively influences knowledge exploitation but with a diminishing marginal effect, while the latter negatively affects EVBs. Additionally, we find a U-shaped relationship between knowledge creation and EVBs on a national scale, and this U-shaped relationship is strengthened by national entrepreneurial values. This article is among the first to study EVBs at the national level and enriches the KSTE literature by specifying the differential roles of knowledge creation and knowledge exploitation and highlighting national entrepreneurial values as an important moderator in the national-level KSTE framework.

The Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (KSTE+I) Approach and the Advent of AI Technologies: Evidence from the European Regions

The Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (KSTE+I) Approach and the Advent of AI Technologies: Evidence from the European Regions

Bringing the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship to circular economies: Knowledge and values in entrepreneurial ecosystems

Transitioning from a linear economy to a circular economy (CE) supports the realisation of societal values towards more sustainable development. This article identifies mechanisms by which circularity can be embedded in entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) through the flow of relevant knowledge and values. It presents a dynamic model that illustrates how reverse knowledge spillovers from entrepreneurs can complement traditional technological knowledge spillovers from incumbents, ultimately advocating for CE values and validating circular knowledge. The validated circular knowledge, in turn, alters the knowledge filter of incumbents, leading to shifts in their research and development (R&D) focus and their willingness to embrace new knowledge. This symbiotic relationship of knowledge spillovers between circular start-ups and incumbents can significantly enhance the motivation of participants in EEs to adopt CE values and leverage circular knowledge. Overall, the article shows how knowledge spillovers can facilitate a wider adoption of circular knowledge and CE values within EEs.

Cultural diversity: an impetus to economic growth – under what conditions?

ABSTRACT Realizing cultural diversity’s impact on regional entrepreneurial activity has become crucial for scholars and policymakers. As a step in this direction, this study integrates insights from creative cognitive psychology and the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship to examine this effect and the boundary conditions explaining it. Based on a six-year multi-sourced panel dataset for the 50 U.S. states, the analyses support the proposed arguments in that they indicate that cultural diversity is positively associated with entrepreneurial activity, and this relationship is moderated by regional immigration policy and regulatory framework. Specifically, the effect of cultural diversity on entrepreneurship is more substantial when a region’s immigration policy climate is more inclusionary than exclusionary. In addition, this relationship is also more robust when a region’s regulatory policy is more conscientious than more lax. These findings make novel contributions to our knowledge of how and when contextual conditions regulate (i.e. stimulate or hinder) the effect of cultural diversity on entrepreneurship. The manuscript draws vital implications for policymakers.

Regional innovation networks & high-growth entrepreneurship

We investigate the influence of regional innovation networks (RINs) on high-growth entrepreneurship within the framework of the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship (KSTE). While previous studies have separately examined RINs' role in knowledge diffusion and the geographical characteristics of high-growth firms, the connection between these two areas remains unexplored. To address this gap, we develop a conceptual model that highlights the positive impact of RINs on high-growth entrepreneurship, moderated by regional entrepreneurial capital. Using a unique longitudinal dataset at the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level, we employ two-way fixed effects and instrumental variables regressions to analyze the data. Our findings support the conceptual model, revealing that robust RINs facilitate high-growth entrepreneurship. Additionally, we conduct post-hoc exploratory analyses to investigate potential moderating factors, including the influence of the public policy environment.

Personal determinants of early-stage strategic entrepreneurship: an empirical comparison of Vietnam and Taiwan

PurposeThis research explores how individual factors drive early-stage strategic entrepreneurship (SE) in Vietnam and Taiwan. The authors extend SE and integrate knowledge spillover theory to gain insights into the relationship between individual factors and SE. The research highlights the importance of a dual process, which involves advantage-creating by innovation, as value creation and capture, and advantage-leveraging by growth and international expansion, as value retention and capture.Design/methodology/approachInnovation-oriented SE (ISE), growth-oriented SE (GSE) and internationalization-oriented SE (ITSE) are identified as new measures of SE. There are six hypotheses containing the effect of six personal characteristics have on SE. The authors employed logit regression to estimate the effect of independent variables on SE based on a pooled cross-sectional dataset drawn from Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring (GEM) in Vietnam and Taiwan during 2013–2018.FindingsOpportunity sensing, education, self-funding ability, startup knowledge and skills and startup experience are crucial to the engagement of at least one type of SE in Vietnam. In contrast, education, self-funding ability and start-up knowledge and skills are key factors in Taiwan.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the extension of SE at the individual level in the early phase of new venturing and the integration of knowledge spillover theory. In order to drive early-stage SE further, the authors recommend to prioritize learning from spillovers within and among organizations, industries and communities, as well as through quality institutions, in addition to the individual drivers.

The creation of digital innovative start-ups: the role of digital knowledge spillovers and digital skill endowment

Building on the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship (KSTE) and the Digital Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (DEE) approach, this paper investigates the relationship between the local availability of digital knowledge (i.e., digital knowledge spillovers and digital skill endowment) and the creation of digital innovative start-ups in Italian NUTS3 regions. The obtained results show that both elements are significant for the creation of digital innovative start-ups at the province level, and a two-fold contribution has been made: from a theory perspective, an extension of KSTE to digital settings has been used to assess the relevance of geographical issues, while, from a DEE perspective, the study contributes by empirically analyzing the specific characteristics of the local ecosystem that can affect the creation of digital innovative start-ups. Finally, we discuss the implications for entrepreneurship and technology policy at the local level.

Analysing and predicting a country’s entrepreneurial activity using insights from entrepreneurs’ digital footprint

PurposeStarting from intention–behaviour models and building upon the growing evidence that aggregated internet search query data represent a good proxy of human interests and intentions. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the internet search traffic information related to the selected key terms associated with establishing new businesses, reflects well the dynamics of entrepreneurial activity in a country and can be used for predicting entrepreneurial activity at the national level.Design/methodology/approachTheoretical framework is based on intention–behaviour models and supported by the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship. Monthly data on new business registration from 2018 to 2021 is derived from the open database of the Russian Federal Tax Service. Terms of internet search interest are identified through interviews with the recent founders of new businesses, whereas the internet search query statistics on the identified terms are obtained from Google Trends and Yandex Wordstat.FindingsThe results suggest that aggregated data about web searches related to opening a new business in a country is positively correlated with the dynamics of entrepreneurial activity in the country and, as such, may be useful for predicting the level of that activity.Practical implicationsThe results may serve as a starting point for a new approach to measure, monitor and predict entrepreneurial activities in a country and can help in better addressing policymaking issues related to entrepreneurship.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is original in its approach and results. Building on intention–behaviour models, this study outlines, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first usage of big data for analysing the intention–behaviour relationship in entrepreneurship. This study also contributes to the ongoing debate about the value of big data for entrepreneurship research by proposing and demonstrating the credibility of internet search query data as a novel source of quality data in analysing and predicting a country’s entrepreneurial activity.

Knowledge Filters and Employee Venturing Behaviors: A Cross-Institutional Study of the U.S. and Indian Firms

This article develops an attention-based view of organizational knowledge filters and it explains the theoretical roots for their existence, typology, and boundary conditions of influencing knowledge spillovers (i.e., employee venturing behaviors). Although prior studies have examined the roles of institutional factors in the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship (KSTE), it still lacks insights into whether and how the core proposition of the KSTE—the impact of knowledge filters on knowledge spillovers—differs across nations. Based on the analysis of a dataset of the U.S. and Indian firms collected from LinkedIn, this cross-institutional study reveals that though knowledge-creating firms’ cultural knowledge filters and capability knowledge filters both relate positively to employee venturing behaviors, the latter has a stronger impact than the former, across the U.S. and Indian firms. Due to different economic and cultural institutions, cultural knowledge filters exhibit a stronger impact on employee venturing behaviors in the U.S. firms, whereas the influence of capability knowledge filters is stronger in Indian firms.

Incentivizing knowledge institutions for entrepreneurship and society

PurposeGoing beyond the traditional approach of formal and informal institutions as antecedents of entrepreneurship (directly) and development (indirectly), this paper seeks to explore knowledge institutions as a necessary input for entrepreneurship and the development of societies.Design/methodology/approachInstitutional economics lenses are utilized to observe other factors (e.g. the number of R&D staff and researchers from the public sector) that involve laws and socialization processes, which at the same time create knowledge useful for entrepreneurs and society. These ideas are tested through a sample of 281 observations from 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities in Spain. The information coming from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), Ministry of Economics, Industry, and Competitiveness, and INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadística), was analyzed through 3SLS, which is useful for a simultaneous equation strategy.FindingsKnowledge institutions such as the number of R&D staff and researchers from the public sector are found positively associated with entrepreneurship, which is a factor directly and positively linked to economic development across Spanish regions.Originality/valueThe findings help the operationalization of other institutions considered in institutional economics theory and its application to entrepreneurship research. Moreover, the results bring new insights into the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship in the public sector, in which the institutional analysis is implicit.

Start‐ups' use of knowledge spillovers for product innovation: the influence of entrepreneurial ecosystems and virtual platforms

Entrepreneurial ecosystems have been explored widely in entrepreneurship, management and social sciences literature. The Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship (KSTE) aims to uncover the effects of information on start‐ups co‐located in diverse locations, such as urban areas, science and technology parks, incubators, and accelerator programs. Extant research has focused on how entrepreneurs launch start‐ups and develop patents over a 5–10 years timespan from a regional perspective. However, studies into the development processes of start‐ups and the creation of entrepreneurial ecosystems in physical and virtual environments in high‐tech start‐ups, are limited. As a result, this paper aims to identify the development processes undertaken by high‐tech entrepreneurs at the individual level and evaluate the absorption and implementation of knowledge in physical and virtual clusters within entrepreneurial ecosystems. A multiple case study of 32 start‐ups that have attended incubator and accelerator programs in London, United Kingdom, is presented. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Founders of start‐ups to propose the Model of Knowledge Spillovers and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. The themes identified during interviews highlight the mechanisms employed by start‐ups to capture tacit and explicit knowledge spillovers. Theoretically, the findings of this study contribute to the KSTE by questioning the flexibility of entrepreneurs to access knowledge without the limitation of geographical proximity to sources of knowledge. Practically, our findings provide entrepreneurs with proven mechanisms required to capture tacit knowledge spillovers within entrepreneurial ecosystems and use virtual platforms to obtain explicit knowledge spillovers towards product innovation.

Knowledge Spillovers, Institutional Environment, and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from China

The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship (KSTE) predicts a positive relationship between knowledge creation and entrepreneurial activity. As a transitional economy, China exhibits great differences among regions in advancing market reforms and opening-up, largely due to the gradual nature of its economic transformation and opening-up. This situation provides a suitable setting for exploring the role of the institutional environment in the KSTE framework. In this study, we discuss the applicability of the KSTE in the Chinese context and theoretically analyze the role of the institutional environment from aspects of market reforms and opening-up. An empirical analysis based on the data of the Chinese manufacturing sector shows that the KSTE is applicable in China and it is applicable to industries with different technology levels and regions with different levels of economic development. More importantly, we find that both market reforms and opening-up strengthen the positive effect of knowledge creation on entrepreneurship. Our exploration in this field extends the KSTE.

Lost in space? Refugee Entrepreneurship and Cultural Diversity in Spatial Contexts

Abstract In the past decade, refugee entrepreneurship has received unprecedented political and public attention worldwide and especially in Germany. Due to the circumstances of the forced migration and asylum procedure, refugee entrepreneurs are socially disembedded in both: the co-ethnic community and in the local community, in comparison to other immigrant entrepreneurs or native entrepreneurs. Since asylum seekers are allocated to their residence independent of their will, it is crucial to assess how their socio-spatial embeddedness determines refugee entrepreneurial propensity. We depart from the abstract concept of mixed embeddedness and concretize spatial embeddedness in urban, semi-urban and rural environments. By building on the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship (KSTE), we include embeddedness in cultural diversity in our research model, too. The econometric analyses of the German Microcensus suggest, first, that refugees are especially prone to entrepreneurship. Second, intercultural embeddedness has the strongest significant positive correlation with refugee entrepreneurial propensity, compared to other immigrants and native-born. However, when including interaction effects of cultural diversity in different spaces, the positive relationship of ethnic diversity and refugee entrepreneurship holds only true in semi-urban spaces. This provides clues that refugee entrepreneurs in rural or urban environments access resources and opportunities through alternative social capital.