Ecosystems perspective on entrepreneurship
pp. 387-407
in: Roméo V. Turcan, Norman M. Fraser (eds), The Palgrave handbook of multidisciplinary perspectives on entrepreneurship, Berlin, Springer, 2018Abstract
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.