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Small Business Economics
Published in: Small Business Economics 1/2017

11-05-2017

The lineages of the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach

Authors: Zoltan J. Acs, Erik Stam, David B. Audretsch, Allan O’Connor

Published in: Small Business Economics | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

In its most abstract sense, an ecosystem is a biotic community, encompassing its physical environment, and all the interactions possible in the complex of living and nonliving components. Economics has always been about systems that explain differential output and outcomes. However, economics has generally ignored the role of entrepreneurship in economic systems, just as entrepreneurship studies have largely overlooked the role of systems in explaining the prevalence and performance of entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial ecosystem approach has the promise to correct these shortcomings. Its two dominant lineages are the regional development literature and the strategy literature. Both lineages share common roots in ecological systems thinking, providing fresh insights into the interdependence of actors in a particular community to create new value. But studies of both regional development and strategic management have largely ignored the role of entrepreneurs in new value creation. In this paper, we will outline contributions to the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach and conclude with a promising new line of research to our understanding of the emergence, growth, and context of start-ups that have achieved great impact by developing new platforms.
next article Looking inside the spiky bits: a critical review and conceptualisation of entrepreneurial ecosystems

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Footnotes
1
Even though most of the spatial econometric analyses of industrial clusters have focused on the spatial concentration of single industries (Glaeser et al. 1992), more recently, they started focusing on related industries (Frenken et al. 2007).
 
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Metadata
Title
The lineages of the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach
Authors
Zoltan J. Acs
Erik Stam
David B. Audretsch
Allan O’Connor
Publication date
11-05-2017
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Small Business Economics / Issue 1/2017
Print ISSN: 0921-898X
Electronic ISSN: 1573-0913
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-017-9864-8

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