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International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal

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14-01-2022

Opening entrepreneurial ecosystem’s black box: the power of networks in African low-income countries

Authors: Grégory Guéneau, Didier Chabaud, Marie-Christine Chalus Sauvannet

Published in: International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal | Issue 2/2022

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Abstract

What makes one type of entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) more conducive to entrepreneurial dynamics than another? EE research is a hot topic, and considerable progress has been made as regards its elements, network, and actors’ components. However, some scholars regret the absence of an empirical analysis of EE as a whole to understand how EE configuration operates. To introduce this perspective, we propose an unexplored inter-organizational ties analysis among all EE actors, at a country-level scale. Based on the network theory perspective, we conduct an exploratory research in five low-income African countries, using innovative research methods (the quantitative graph theory, web scraping, the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis) to understand the organizational patterns in these EEs, and their impact on entrepreneurial outcomes. At the core of this perspective lie inter-organizational ties measures of closeness, cohesiveness, and inter-connectedness, which are key causal conditions for high entrepreneurial dynamics levels and rates in low-income countries. This research underlines the importance of EE network attributes to facilitate the easy distribution of entrepreneurial nurturing components to entrepreneurs. It also highlights the importance of ease of information and knowledge flow, as well as a strong collaborative and coopetitive environment to make an EE more conducive to entrepreneurial dynamics.

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Title: Opening entrepreneurial ecosystem’s black box: the power of networks in African low-income countries
Authors: Grégory Guéneau
Didier Chabaud
Marie-Christine Chalus Sauvannet
Publication date: 14-01-2022
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal / Issue 2/2022
Print ISSN: 1554-7191
Electronic ISSN: 1555-1938
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-021-00775-1

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