Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Entrepreneurial Ecosystems pp 67–80Cite as

A Triple-Helix Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship: A Case Review

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: International Studies in Entrepreneurship ((ISEN,volume 38))

Abstract

The collaborations among universities, businesses, and governments leading to entrepreneurial activities have received a lot of attention. Successful examples of such endeavours are plenty. However, how this triple-helix ecosystem may have changed in the digital economy remains unexplored. Specifically, there is a lack of research that addresses the changing roles of universities from acting as places for conducting R&D to become marketplaces for customers. The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the triple helix ecosystem of entrepreneurship in the digital economy. First, we use a historical lens to uncover the antecedents and drivers of university-business research collaborations with support from governments, and offer a few historical examples. Second, we highlight some recent digital businesses from the perspective of triple helix ecosystem of entrepreneurship. Third, we offer a new conceptual framework depicting the new roles of the three triadic players that have expanded from the supply side (i.e., R&D, funding) to the demand side (i.e., customer base) in enabling entrepreneurial activities.

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

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Acs Z, Sussan F (2017) Knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship in the digital age. Working Paper Presented at Oxford Residency of Entrepreneurship, June

    Google Scholar 

  • Adner R (2006) Match your innovation strategy to your innovation ecosystem. Harvard Bus Rev 84(4):98

    Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Autio E, Thomas L (2016) Innovation ecosystems: implications for innovation management. In: Dodgson M, Phillips N, Gann DM (eds) The Oxford handbook of innovation management. Oxford University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Autio E, Nmbisan S, Thomas LDW, Wright M (forthcoming) Digital affordances, spatial affordances, and the genesis of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Strateg Entrepreneurship J

    Google Scholar 

  • Barney JB (2001a) Is the resource-based “view” a useful perspective for strategic management research? Yes. Acad Manag Rev 26(1):41–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Barney JB (2001b) Resource-based theories of competitive advantage: a ten-year retrospective on the resource-based view. J Manag 27(6):643–650

    Google Scholar 

  • Benson D, Ziedonis R (2009) Corporate venture capital as a window on new technologies: implications for the performance of corporate investors when acquiring startups. Organ Sci 20(2):329–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergara ME, Henisz WJ, Spiller PT (1998) Political institutions and electric utility investment: a cross-nation analysis. Calif Manag Rev 40(1):18–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown B, Anthony SD (2011) How P&G tripled its innovation success rate. Harvard Bus Rev 89(6):64–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesbrough H (2003) Open innovation: the new imperative for creating and profiting from technology. Harvard Business School Press, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesbrough H (2010) Open services innovation: rethinking your business to grow and compete in a new era. Wiley

    Google Scholar 

  • Chinta R (2017) Empirical study of need-driven and opportunity-driven women entrepreneurship in the state of Alabama. Working paper, Auburn University, Montgomery

    Google Scholar 

  • Chinta R, Culpan R (2014) The role of open innovation in business-university R&D collaborations. In: Culpan R (ed) Open innovation through strategic alliances. Palgrave MacMillan, New York, pp 145–165

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen W, Florida R, Goe WR (1994) University-industry research centers in the United States. Unpublished paper, Carnegie-Mellon University, Center for Economic development, H.J. Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

    Google Scholar 

  • Colombo MG, Grilli L (2010) On growth drivers of high-tech start-ups: exploring the role of founders’ human capital and venture capital. J Bus Ventur 25(6):610–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Croce A, Martí J, Murtinu S (2013) The impact of venture capital on the productivity growth of European entrepreneurial firms: ‘screening’ or ‘value added’ effect? J Bus Ventur 28(4):489–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crunchbase (2017) https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ele-me#/entity. Accessed 7 July 2017

  • Culpan R (2014) Open innovation business models and the role of inter-firm partnerships. In: Culpan R (ed) Open innovation through strategic alliances. Palgrave MacMillan, New York, pp 18–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham JA, Guerrero M, Urbano D (2017) Entrepreneurial universities: overview, reflections and future research agendas. In: Siegel D (ed) The world scientific reference on entrepreneurship. Volume 1: Entrepreneurial universities: technology and knowledge transfer. World Scientific Publishing Co., Hackensack, pp 3–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuthbertson A (2014) Google partners with Oxford University to develop artificial intelligence. http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/google-partners-oxford-university-develop-artificial-intelligence-1471437. Accessed 5 July 2017

  • Da Rin M, Nicodano G, Sembenelli A (2006) Public policy and the creation of active venture capital markets. J Public Econ 90(3):1699–1723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeFillippi R, Dumas C, Bhatia S (2014) Genesis and evolution of the Xerox-P&G co-innovation partnership. In: Culpan R (ed) Open innovation through strategic alliances. Palgrave MacMillan, New York, pp 121–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodgson M, Gann D, Salter A (2006) The role of technology in the shift towards open innovation: the case of Procter & Gamble. R&D Manag 36(3):333–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enkel E, Gassmann O, Chesbrough H (2009) Open R&D and open innovation: exploring the phenomenon. R&D Manag 39(4):311–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz H (2008) The triple helix: university-industry-government innovation in action. Routledge, London and New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz H, Ranga M, Benner M, Guaranys L, Maculan AM, Kneller R (2008) Pathways to the entrepreneurial university: towards a global convergence. Sci Public Policy 35(9):681–695

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Girvan M, Newman ME (2002) Community structure in social and biological networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci 99(12):7821–7826

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerrero M, Urbano D, Fayolle A, Klofsten M, Mian S (2016) Entrepreneurial universities: emerging models in the new social and economic landscape. Small Bus Econ 47(3):551–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutteridge T (2007) Outreach and engagement: afterthought or strategic priority? Mid-Am J Bus 22:5–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayton JC, George G, Zahra SA (2002) National culture and entrepreneurship: a review of behavioral research. Entrepreneurship Theory Pract 26(1):33–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Hove JV, Clarysse B (2017) The ecosystem approach: rethinking academic entrepreneurship in Belgium. In: Siegel D (ed) The world scientific reference on entrepreneurship. Volume 4: Process approach to academic entrepreneurship: evidence from the globe. World Scientific Publishing Co., Hackensack, pp 335–352

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsu DH, Roberts EB, Eesley CE (2007) Entrepreneurs from technology-based universities. Evidence from MIT. Res Policy 36(50):768–788

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick D (2010) Excerpt from The Facebook Effect. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f2619600-ca37-11df-87b8-00144feab49a.html?ft_site=falcon&desktop=true#axzz4n7i1VY3l. Accessed 5 July 2017

  • Lee YS (1998) University-industry collaboration on technology transfer: views from the ivory tower. Policy Stud J 26:69–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li K (2015) A blue print for global growth at the ninth annual meeting of the new champions, Summer Davos opening ceremony. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-09/11/c_134615607.htm. Retrieved 10 Mar 2016

  • Liu Y, Sussan F, Krueger N (2017) The tale of two entrepreneurial cities: top-down versus bottom-up entrepreneurial ecosystem building. Working Paper

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazzucato M (2015) The entrepreneurial state: debunking public vs. private sector myths, vol 1. Anthem Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Mittal S, Lloyd J (2016) The rise of Fintech in China. Ernst and Young, Development Bank of Singapore (DBS). http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-the-rise-of-fintech-in-china/$FILE/ey-the-rise-of-fintech-in-china.pdf. Accessed 5 July 2017

  • Moore JF (1993) Predators and prey: a new ecology of competition. Harvard Bus Rev 71(1):75–86

    Google Scholar 

  • North DC (1990) Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York and Melbourne

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • NSF (2004) Discovery: on the origins of Google. https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=100660. Accessed 15 Aug 2017

  • NSF website (2017) https://www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/sbir/topics.jsp. Accessed 5 July 2017

  • Ofo bicycle (2015) “ofo bicycle”: riding bicycles anytime and anywhere. http://english.pku.edu.cn/news_events/news/campus/4059.htm. Accessed 5 July 2017

  • Rasmussen E, Borch OJ (2010) University capabilities in facilitating entrepreneurship: a longitudinal study of spin-off ventures at mid-range universities. Res Policy 39(5):602–612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg N, Nelson R (1994) American universities and technical advances in industry. Res Policy 23:323–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roser T, DeFilippi R, Samson A (2012) Managing your co-creation mix: co-creation ventures in distinctive context. Eur Bus Rev 25(1):20–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samila S, Sorenson O (2010) Venture capital as a catalyst to commercialization. Res Policy 39(4):1348–1360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shane S (2004) Academic entrepreneurship: university spin-offs and wealth creation. Edward Elgar, Northampton

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Siew A (2013) Pharma embraces open innovation. Pharm Technol 25:6–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Spice B (2015) Cmu leads Google expedition to create technology for “internet of things” campus will be living lab for interconnected sensors, gadgets. https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2015/july/google-internet-of-things.html. Accessed 5 July 2017

  • Sussan F, Acs Z (2017) Digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. Small Bus Econ 49(1):55–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Szoldra P (2016) 14 cutting edge firms funded by the CIA. http://www.businessinsider.com/companies-funded-by-cia-2016-9. Accessed 5 July 2017

  • Teece DJ (2007) Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strateg Manag J 28(3):1319–1350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas L, Autio E (2013) Emergent equifinality: an empirical analysis of ecosystem creation processes. In: Proceedings of the 35th DRUID Celebration Conference, Barcelona, Spain

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Allan O’Connor for his helpful comments in the development of this manuscript. This research has received funding support from Better Business Better Lives, Inc.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, USA

    Ravi Chinta

  2. Center for Global Business and Information Technology Research, School of Advanced Studies, University of Phoenix, Tempe, USA

    Fiona Sussan

Authors
  1. Ravi Chinta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Fiona Sussan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fiona Sussan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Allan O'Connor

  2. School of Economics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Erik Stam

  3. School of Advanced Studies, University of Phoenix, Tempe, Arizona, USA

    Fiona Sussan

  4. Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

    David B. Audretsch

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Chinta, R., Sussan, F. (2018). A Triple-Helix Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship: A Case Review. In: O'Connor, A., Stam, E., Sussan, F., Audretsch, D. (eds) Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. International Studies in Entrepreneurship, vol 38. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63531-6_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation