Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The governance of entrepreneurial ecosystems

  • Published:
Small Business Economics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The “entrepreneurial ecosystem” metaphor is capturing attention in academia, industry, and government. The entrepreneurial ecosystem approach is used in corporate, national, or local contexts, and has grown in prominence given the vital need to transform economies around the creation of innovative ideas, products, services, and technologies. Entrepreneurial ecosystems involve a network, a system, of interactions of individuals and organizations, like financial intermediaries, universities and research institutions, suppliers and customers, multinational companies, or the government. The entrepreneurial ecosystem literature has thus mainly focused on identifying the relevant stakeholders like entrepreneurial firms and entrepreneurs and how they interact with other stakeholders within a more or less defined system. Despite the popularity of the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach, the literature has almost overlooked and largely ignored the governance of entrepreneurial ecosystems. This special Issue of Small Business Economics critically examines issues concerning the governance of entrepreneurial ecosystems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The Great Barrier Riff is a natural, autarkic ecosystem which has evolved over thousands of years, locally defined and bounded by the coral reef off the Australian coast. Rebuilding the coral reef within an aquarium, even when all the creatures of the reef are considered, quite inevitably, would still remain an artificial ecosystem, governed by a visible hand, even (when) just pressing the energy button.

References

  • Acs, Z. J., Autio, E., & Szerb, L. (2014). National systems of entrepreneurship: measurement issues and policy implications. Research Policy, 43(3), 476–494.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Acs, Z. J., Audretsch, D. B., Lehmann, E. E., & Licht, G. (2016). National systems of entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics, 46(4), 527–535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Acs, Z. A., Stam, E., Audretsch, D. B., & O’Connor, A. (2017a). The lineages of the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach. Small Business Economics, 49, 1–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Acs, Z. J., Audretsch, D. B., Lehmann, E. E., & Licht, G. (2017b). National systems of innovation. Journal of Technology Transfer, 42(5), 997–1008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Acs, Z. A., Estrin, S., Mickiewicz, T. & Szerb, L. (2017c). Institutions, Entrepreneurship and Growth: The Role of National Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, SSRN Working paper N. 2912453. doi:https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2912453.

  • Adner, R., & Kapoor, A. (2010). Value creation in innovation ecosystems: how the structure of technological interdependence affects firm performance in new technology generations. Strategic Management Journal, 31(3), 306–333.

  • Adner, R., Oxley, J. E. & Silverman, B.S. (2013). Introduction: Collaboration and Competition in business ecosystems. In R. Adner, J. E. Oxley & B.S. Silverman (Eds.), Collaboration and competition in business ecosystems (Advances in Strategic Management), Volume 30. Bingley: Emerald Books, p i.

  • Audretsch, D. B., & Belitski, M. (2017). Entrepreneurial ecosystems in cities: establishing the framework conditions. Journal of Technology Transfer, 42(5), 1030–1051.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Audretsch, D. B., & Lehmann, E. E. (2014). Corporate governance and entrepreneurial firms. Foundations and Trends in Entrepreneurship, 10(1/2), 1–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Audretsch, D. B. & Link, A. N. (2017). Embracing an entrepreneurial ecosystem: an analysis of the governance of research joint ventures. Small Business Economics, this Issue.

  • Autio, E., Nambisan, S., Thomas, D. W. L., & Wright, M. (2017). Digital affordances, spatial affordances, and the genesis of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Strategic Entrepreneurahip Journal, forthcoming.

  • Bertoni, F., Colombo, M. G., & Croce, A. (2013). Corporate governance in high-tech firms. In M. Wright, D. Siegel, K. Keasey, & I. Filatotchev (Eds.), Oxford handbook of corporate governance (pp. 365–388). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertoni, F., Colombo, M.G. & Quas, A. (2017). The role of governmental venture capital in the venture capital ecosystem: an organizational ecology perspective. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, forthcoming.

  • Bhawe, N., & Zahra, S. A. (2017). Inducing heterogeneity in local entrepreneurial ecosystems: the role of MNEs, Small Business Economics, this issue.

  • Block, J. H.; Colombo, M. G., Cumming, D. J., & Vismara, S. (2017). New players in entrepreneurial finance and why they are there. Small Business Econonomics, in print. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-016-9826-6.

  • Brown, R., & Mason, C. (2017). Looking inside the spiky bits: a critical review and conceptualisation of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Small Business Economics, 49(1), 11–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, G. R. (1988). Ecological models of organizations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarysse, B., Wright, M., Bruneel, J., & Mahajan, A. (2014). Creating value in ecosystems: crossing the chasm between knowledge and business ecosystems. Research Policy, 43(7), 1164–1176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colombelli, A., Paolucci, E., & Ughetto, E. (2017). Hierarchical and relational governance and the life cycle of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Small Business Economics, this issue.

  • Colombo, M. G., & Murtinu, S. (2017). Venture capital investments in Europe and portfolio firms' economic performance: Independent versus corporate investors. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 26(1), 35–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colombo, M. G., & Shafi, K. (2016). Swimming with sharks in Europe: when are they dangerous and what can new ventures do to defend themselves? Strategic Management Journal, 37(11), 2307–2322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colombo, M. G., D’Adda, D., Pirelli, L., & L. H. (2016). The participation of new technology-based firms in EU-funded R&D partnerships: The role of venture capital. Research Policy, 45(2), 361–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cumming, D., Wert, J. C., & Zhang, Y, (2017). Governance in entrepreneurial ecosystems: venture capitalists vs. technology parks. Small Business Economics, this issue.

  • Cunningham, J. A., Menter, M., & Wirsching, K. (2017). Entrepreneurial ecosystem governance: a principal investigator centered governance framework. Small Business Economics, this issue.

  • Dagnino, G. B., Levanti, G., & Mocciaro Li Destri, A. (2016). Structural dynamics and intentional governance in strategic interorganizational network evolution: a multilevel approach. Organization Studies, 37(3), 349–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dagnino, G. B., King, D. R., & Tienari, J. (2017). Strategic management of dynamic growth. Long Range Planning, 50(4), 427–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghio, N., Guerini, M., & Lamastra-Rossi (2017). The creation of high-tech ventures in entrepreneurial ecosystems: exploring the interactions among university knowledge, cooperative banks, and individual attitudes. Small Business Economics, this issue.

  • Hannan, M. T., & Freeman, J. H. (1989). Organizational ecology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hathaway,I., & Litan, R. E. (2014). Declining Business Dynamism in the United States: A Look at States and Metros. Economic Studies at Brookings, 1–7.

  • Hayter, C. S. (2016). A trajectory of early-stage spinoff success: the role of knowledge intermediaries within an entrepreneurial university ecosystem. Small Business Economics, 47(2), 633–656.

  • Holmes, R. M., Miller, T., Hitt, M. A., & Salmador, M. P. (2013). The interrelationships among informal institutions, formal institutions, and inward foreign direct investment. Journal of Management, 39(2), 531–566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iansiti, M., & Levien, R. (2004). The keystone advantage: what the new dynamics of business ecosystems mean for strategy, innovation, and sustainability. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isenberg, D. (2010). The big idea: how to start and entrepreneurial revolution. Harvard Business Review, 88(6), 40–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isenberg, D. (2011). The Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Strategy as a New Paradigm for Economic Policy: Principles for Cultivating Entrepreneurship. Babson Global https://www.slideshare.net/DanIsenberg/the-entrepreneurship-ecosystem-strategy-for-economic-growthpolicy-iiea-dublin-2011-1. Accessed August 14 2017.

  • Isenberg, D. (2014). What an entrepreneurship ecosystem actually is, Harvard Business Review, May 12, 2014, accessed under http://hbr.org/2014/05/what-an-entrepreneurial-ecosystem-actually-is/ on June 14th 2017.

  • Isenberg, D., & Onymeah, V. (2016). Fostering scaleup ecosystems for regional economic growth. Innovations, 11(1/2), 60–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kapoor, R., & Lee, J. M. (2013). Coordinating and competing in ecosystems: How organizational forms shape new technology investments. Strategic Management Journal, 34(3), 274–296.

  • Kuratko, D., Fisher, G., Bloodgood, J. M., Hornsby, S., & J. S. (2017). The paradox of new venture legitimation within an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Small Business Economics, 49, 119–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, P. R., & Lorsch, J. W. (1967). Organization and environment. Managing differentiation and integration. Boston: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehmann, E. E., & Menter, M. (2017). Public cluster policy and performance. Journal of Technology Transfer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-017-9626-4.

  • Lehmann, E. E., & Seitz, N. (2017). Freedom and innovation, a country and state level analysis. Journal of Technology Transfer, 42(5), 1009–1029.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meoli, M., Paleari, S. & Vismara, S. (2017). The governance of universities and the establishment of academic spinoff. Small Business Economics, this issue.

  • Miller, D. J., & Acs, Z. J. (2017). The campus as entrepreneurial ecosystem: the University of Chicago. Small Business Economics, 49, 75–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minà, A. & Dagnino, G. B. (2017). Mapping entrepreneurial ecosystems inquiry: a content analysis of the literature and its implications, in: Alvarez, S., Carayannis, E.G., Dagnino, G.B. & Faraci, R. (eds.), Entrepreneurial ecosystems and the diffusion of startups, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar. In press.

  • Minà, A., Dagnino, G. B., & Ben-Letaifa, S. (2016). Competition and cooperation in entrepreneurial ecosystems: a life-cycle analysis of Canadian ICT ecosystems. In F. Belussi & L. Orsi (Eds.), Innovation, alliances and networks in high-tech environment (pp. 65–81). Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, J. F. (1993). Predators and prey—A new ecology of competition. Harvard Business Review, 71(3), 75–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, R., & Winter, S. (1982). An evolutionary theory of economic change. Cambridge: Belkap Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oh, D.-S., Philips, F., Park, S. & Lee, E. (2016). Innovation Ecosystems: A Critical examination. Technovation, 54 1–6.

  • Rampersad, G. (2016). Entrepreneurial ecosystems: a governance perspective. Journal of Research in Business, Economics and Management, 7(3), 1122–1134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, J. (2004). The modern firm. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salmador, M. P., & Bueno, E. (2005). Strategy-making as a complex, double-loop process of knowledge creation: four cases of established banks reinventing the industry by means of the internet. In G. Szulanski, J. Porac, & Y. Doz (Eds.), Strategy process (advances in strategic management, volume 22) (pp. 267–318).

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, T. M., & Smith, R. L. (2015). Elements of ecology (9th ed.). Essex: Pearson Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stam, E. (2015). Entrepreneurial ecosystems and regional policy: a sympathetic critique, Utrecht School of Economics, Discussion paper series 15–07.

  • Stam, E. (2017). Measuring the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Utrecht School of Economics, Discussion paper series 17–11.

  • Sussan, F., & Acs, Z. J. (2017). The digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. Small Business Economics, 49, 55–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tirole, J. (2006). The theory of corporate finance. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Visnjic, I., Cennamo, C., Neely, A., Visnjic, N. (2017). Governing the City: Unleashing Value from the Business Ecosystem. California Management Review, 59, 109–140.

  • Weber, M. (1978). In G. Roth & C. Wittich (Eds.), Economy and society: an outline of interpretive sociology. Berkeley: California University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, O. E. (1985). The economic institutions of capitalism. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, M., Siegel, D. S. & Mustar P. (2017). An emerging ecosystem for student start-ups. Journal of Technology Transfer, 42(4), 909–922.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Economics, and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Massimo G. Colombo

  2. Department of Economics and Business, University of Catania, Catania, Italy

    Giovanni Battista Dagnino

  3. Augsburg University, Augsburg, Germany

    Erik E. Lehmann

  4. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    MariPaz Salmador

Authors
  1. Massimo G. Colombo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Giovanni Battista Dagnino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Erik E. Lehmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. MariPaz Salmador
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erik E. Lehmann.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Colombo, M.G., Dagnino, G.B., Lehmann, E.E. et al. The governance of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Small Bus Econ 52, 419–428 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-017-9952-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-017-9952-9

Keywords

JEL classification

Search

Navigation