Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Introduction: Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Entrepreneurship and Society ((PSEI))

  • 479 Accesses

Abstract

In this book the authors explore and debate through a fine lens the economic, social, and policy approaches that characterize fruitful research on entrepreneurial ecosystems with economically meaningful implications for policy. The collection of chapters included in the book is an important manifestation that presents various challenges that exist ‘on the ground’ so to speak that influence the shaping and output of entrepreneurial ecosystems. The approach taken up in this book is a systematic one oriented to understanding different aspects of entrepreneurial ecosystems (i.e., definitional and measurement issues, and the complementary role of the ecosystem framework to analyze the digital economy) and to contrast these two aspects with positions reported by relevant contemporary empirical work rooted in different theoretical groundings.

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

Access this chapter

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
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

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Acs, Z. J. (2022). The global digital platform economy and the region. Annals of Regional Science, in press. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-022-01154-6.

  • 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., Autio, E., & Szerb, L. (2015a). Global entrepreneurship and development index 2014. Springer Nature.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Acs, Z. J., Estrin, S., Mickiewicz, T., & Szerb, L. (2018). Entrepreneurship, institutional economics and economic growth: An ecosystem systems perspective. Small Business Economics, 51(2), 501–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Acs, Z. J., Song, A., Szerb, L., Audretsch, D., & Komlosi, E. (2021). The evolution of the digital platform economy: 1971–2021. Small Business Economics, 57(4), 1629–1659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Acs, Z. J., Stam, E., Audretsch, D., & O’Connor, A. (2017). The lineages of the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach. Small Business Economics, 49(1), 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Acs, Z. J., Szerb, L., Ortega-Argilés, R., Coduras, A., & Aidis, R. (2015). The regional application of the global entrepreneurship and development index (GEDI): The case of Spain. Regional Studies, 49(12), 1977–1994.

    Google Scholar 

  • Acs, Z. J., Szerb, L., Song, A., Lafuente, E., & Komlosi, E. (2022). Measuring the digital platform economy. In M. Keyhani, T. Kollmann, A. Ashjari, A. Sorgner, & C. Eiríkur Hull (Eds.), Handbook of digital entrepreneurship, chapter 5 (pp. 91–120). Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 978-1-800-37362-4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asheim, B. T., & Coenen, L. (2005). Knowledge bases and regional innovation systems: Comparing Nordic clusters. Research Policy, 34(8), 1173–1190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asheim, B. T., Boschma, R., & Cooke, P. (2011). Constructing regional advantage: Platform policies based on related variety and differentiated knowledge bases. Regional Studies, 45(7), 893–904.

    Google Scholar 

  • Audretsch, D., Mason, C., Miles, M. P., & O’Connor, A. (2021). Time and the dynamics of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 33(1–2), 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2014). The second machine age: Work, Progress, and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies. W.W. Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cao, Z., & Shi, X. (2021). A systematic literature review of entrepreneurial ecosystems in advanced and emerging economies. Small Business Economics, 57(1), 75–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, P., Gomez Uranga, M., & Etxebarria, G. (1997). Regional innovation systems: Institutional and organizational dimensions. Research Policy, 26(4–5), 475–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delgado, M., Porter, M. E., & Stern, S. (2016). Defining clusters of related industries. Journal of Economic Geography, 16(1), 1–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feld, B. (2012). Start-up communities: Building an entrepreneurial ecosystem in your city. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldfarb, A., & Tucker, C. (2019). Digital economics. Journal of Economic Literature, 57(1), 3–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isenberg, D. J. (2010). How to start an entrepreneurial revolution. Harvard Business Review, 88(6), 41–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolko, J. (2012). Broadband and local growth. Journal of Urban Economics, 71(1), 100–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lafuente, E., Acs, Z. J., Sanders, M., & Szerb, L. (2020). The global technology frontier: Productivity growth and the relevance of Kirznerian and Schumpeterian entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics, 55, 153–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lafuente, E., Acs, Z.J., Szerb, L. (2022). A composite indicator analysis for optimizing entrepreneurial ecosystems. Research Policy, 51(9), 104379.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lafuente, E., Acs, Z. J., & Szerb, L. (2023). Analysis of the digital platform economy around the world: A network DEA model for identifying policy priorities. Journal of Small Business Management, in press. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472778.2022.2100895.

  • Lafuente, E., Szerb, L., & Acs, Z. J. (2016). Country level efficiency and National Systems of entrepreneurship: A data envelopment analysis approach. Journal of Technology Transfer, 41(6), 1260–1283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lafuente, E., Vaillant, Y., & Serarols, C. (2010). Location decisions of knowledge-based entrepreneurs: why some Catalan KISAs choose to be rural? Technovation, 30(11–12), 590–600.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L., & Meyer, M. (2006). Triple Helix indicators of knowledge-based innovation systems: Introduction to the special issue. Research Policy, 35(10), 1441–1449.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lundvall, B. Å. (1992). National Systems of innovation: Towards a theory of innovation and interactive learning. Pinter Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, A. (1920). Principles of economics (Revised ed.). Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Motoyama, Y. (2008). What was new about the cluster theory? What could it answer and what could it not answer? Economic Development Quarterly, 22(4), 353–363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Motoyama, Y. (2019). From innovation to entrepreneurship: Connectivity-based regional development. Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. E. (1998). Clusters and the new economics of competition. Harvard Business Review, 76(6), 77–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter, M. E. (2007). Clusters and economic policy: Aligning public policy with the new economics of competition. Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qian H., & Fu W. (forthcoming, 2023). Entrepreneurial ecosystem versus regional innovation system: conceptualization and application to Chinese cities. In Huggins R., Kitagawa F., Prokop D., Theodoraki C., Thompson P. (Eds.), Entrepreneurial ecosystems in cities and regions: Emergence, evolution, and future. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qian, H., & Acs, Z. J. (2013). An absorptive capacity theory of knowledge spillover entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics, 40(2), 185–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qian, H., & Acs, Z. J. (2022). Entrepreneurial ecosystems and economic development policy. Economic Development Quarterly. in press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qian, H., Acs, Z. J., & Stough, R. R. (2013). Regional Systems of Entrepreneurship: The nexus of human capital, knowledge and new firm formation. Journal of Economic Geography, 13(4), 559–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumpeter, J. A. (1934). The theory of economic development: An inquiry into profits, capital, credit, interest, and the business cycle. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Song, A. (2019). The digital entrepreneurial ecosystem—A critique and reconfiguration. Small Business Economics, 53(3), 569–590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spigel, B., & Harrison, R. (2018). Toward a process theory of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 12(1), 151–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stam, E., & Spigel, B. (2022). Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. The SAGE Handbook of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (pp. 407–421). SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sussan, F., & Acs, Z. J. (2017). The digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. Small Business Economics, 49(1), 55–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szerb, L., Acs, Z. J., Lafuente, E., Komlosi, E., & Song, A. (2022). The digital platform economy index 2020. Springer Nature.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szerb, L., Lafuente, E., Horváth, K., & Páger, B. (2019). The relevance of quantity and quality entrepreneurship for regional performance: The moderating role of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Regional Studies, 53(9), 1308–1320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szerb, L., Ortega-Argilés, R., Acs, Z. J., & Komlósi, É. (2020). Optimizing entrepreneurial development processes for smart specialization in the European Union. Papers in Regional Science, 99(5), 1413–1457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varga, A., Sebestyén, T., Szerb, L., & Szabó, N. (2020). Estimating the economic impacts of knowledge network and entrepreneurship development in smart specialization policy. Regional Studies, 54(1), 48–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wurth, B., Stam, E., & Spigel, B. (2022). Toward an entrepreneurial ecosystem research program. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 46(3), 729–778.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. George Mason University, Arlington, VA, USA

    Zoltan J. Acs

  2. Business School, Costa Rica Institute of Technology (ITCR), Cartago, Costa Rica

    Esteban Lafuente

  3. Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

    László Szerb

Authors
  1. Zoltan J. Acs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Esteban Lafuente
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. László Szerb
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Esteban Lafuente .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. George Mason University, Arlington, VA, USA

    Zoltan J. Acs

  2. Business School, Costa Rica Institute of Technology (ITCR), Cartago, Costa Rica

    Esteban Lafuente

  3. Faculty of Business and Economics University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

    László Szerb

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Acs, Z.J., Lafuente, E., Szerb, L. (2023). Introduction: Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. In: Acs, Z.J., Lafuente, E., Szerb, L. (eds) The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. Palgrave Studies in Entrepreneurship and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25931-9_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation