The Role of Digital Entrepreneurial Platforms and Bricolage Entrepreneurial Processes in Rural Transformation

Building on current developments of digital platform technologies and the emerging entrepreneurship theory of bricolage entrepreneurial processes, this paper develops a framework for economic and social transformation of rural communities using digital platform technologies. It argues that digital platform technologies when combined with bricolage entrepreneurial processes can empower rural entrepreneurs to overcome the liabilities and constraints commonly found in rural communities. In resource poor rural communities social entrepreneurial process are found to be necessary to mobilize the social capital and fill in the gaps caused by government and market failure. The findings of this study provide an insight into how new digital platforms can help isolated rural communities to overcome the barriers common to most rural communities including limited access to key resources, talent, investors and market access. The significance of this study is made by its three main contributions. First, it contributes to the social entrepreneurship literature by providing a conceptual framework that combines social entrepreneurial process and digital platform strategies as drivers of social innovation and social change. Secondly, by amplifying the role of social entrepreneurial processes in regional transformation this study contributes to the literature on regional revitalization which has often taken a top down approach by emphasizing large multinational corporations as the main driver for revitalizing regional economies. By having social entrepreneurial processes at the center of regional transformation, especially in rural communities where market conditions do not provide a return on investment that is large enough to attract large investors, this study provides a bottom-up approach that is more inclusive, practical and sustainable. Thirdly, this study brings to light the game changing role that digital platform technologies can play to advance economic and social change in isolated rural communities.