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Ecosystems Perspective on Entrepreneurship

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The Palgrave Handbook of Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Ahokangas, Boter, and Iivari address larger contextual and interaction-based issues in framing, developing, and supporting entrepreneurial activity and processes. With strong roots in ecology, innovation, sociology, strategy, and regional/cluster research, the entrepreneurial ecosystem literature has provided new, fresh insight into entrepreneurship research. In this context, Ahokangas et al. provide an overview and critical discussion on key issues of research on entrepreneurial ecosystems, their characteristics, and definitions. The authors pursue a number of questions, for example, how entrepreneurial ecosystems differ from other contextual concepts such as networks and clusters; what is required to create, foster, support, and orchestrate entrepreneurial resource base, potential, activity, start-ups/spin-offs, and entire entrepreneurial ecosystems in practice; how entrepreneurial ecosystems evolve; and what is the future of entrepreneurial ecosystems. The chapter concludes with avenues for further research.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Martti Ahtisaari Institute, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Petri Ahokangas & Marika Iivari

  2. School of Business and Economics (USBE), University of Umeå, Umeå, Sweden

    Håkan Boter

Authors
  1. Petri Ahokangas
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  2. Håkan Boter
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  3. Marika Iivari
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Petri Ahokangas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business and Management, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Romeo V. Turcan

  2. Department of Business and Management, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Norman M. Fraser

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Ahokangas, P., Boter, H., Iivari, M. (2018). Ecosystems Perspective on Entrepreneurship. In: Turcan, R., Fraser, N. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Entrepreneurship. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91611-8_18

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