IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v86y2018icp1-10.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The emergence of entrepreneurial ecosystems: A complex adaptive systems approach

Author

Listed:
  • Roundy, Philip T.
  • Bradshaw, Mike
  • Brockman, Beverly K.

Abstract

Entrepreneurial ecosystems are receiving heightened attention from scholars and practitioners. Studies have focused on isolating entrepreneurial ecosystems' components; however, prior research has not offered a theory of entrepreneurial ecosystems that embraces their complexity. To address this omission in ecosystems research, we contend that entrepreneurial ecosystems can be more fully understood if examined through the lens of complexity science and conceptualized as complex adaptive systems. We contribute to entrepreneurship research by developing a complexity-based definition of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Building on this definition, we connect the research on entrepreneur- and venture-level complexity to work on entrepreneurial ecosystems and propose three related forces that will influence entrepreneurial ecosystem emergence: intentionality of entrepreneurs, coherence of entrepreneurial activities, and injections of resources. Beyond developing theory, we describe how scholars can examine entrepreneurial ecosystems as complex systems using qualitative comparative analysis, agent-based modeling, and interpretivist methods. Our theorizing also has implications for entrepreneurs and policymakers.

Suggested Citation

  • Roundy, Philip T. & Bradshaw, Mike & Brockman, Beverly K., 2018. "The emergence of entrepreneurial ecosystems: A complex adaptive systems approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-10.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:86:y:2018:i:c:p:1-10
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.01.032
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296318300328
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.01.032?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arash Najmaei, 2016. "Using Mixed-Methods Designs to Capture the Essence of Complexity in the Entrepreneurship Research: An Introductory Essay and a Research Agenda," FGF Studies in Small Business and Entrepreneurship, in: Elisabeth S.C. Berger & Andreas Kuckertz (ed.), Complexity in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Research, edition 1, pages 13-36, Springer.
    2. Ross Brown & Colin Mason, 2017. "Looking inside the spiky bits: a critical review and conceptualisation of entrepreneurial ecosystems," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 11-30, June.
    3. Yael V. Hochberg, 2016. "Accelerating Entrepreneurs and Ecosystems: The Seed Accelerator Model," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 25-51.
    4. Ted Fuller & Paul Moran, 2001. "Small enterprises as complex adaptive systems: a methodological question?," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 47-63, January.
    5. Zapkau, Florian B. & Schwens, Christian & Steinmetz, Holger & Kabst, Rüdiger, 2015. "Disentangling the effect of prior entrepreneurial exposure on entrepreneurial intention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 639-653.
    6. Berger, Elisabeth S.C. & Kuckertz, Andreas, 2016. "Female entrepreneurship in startup ecosystems worldwide," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 5163-5168.
    7. Chen, Ming-Huei & Chang, Yu-Yu & Lee, Chia-Yu, 2015. "Creative entrepreneurs' guanxi networks and success: Information and resource," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 900-905.
    8. Maryann Feldman & Ted D. Zoller, 2012. "Dealmakers in Place: Social Capital Connections in Regional Entrepreneurial Economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(1), pages 23-37, June.
    9. Philip T. Roundy, 2016. "Start-up Community Narratives: The Discursive Construction of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 25(2), pages 232-248, September.
    10. George Lipper & Bruce Sommer, 2002. "Encouraging angel capital: What the US states are doing," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(4), pages 357-362, October.
    11. KruegerJR, Norris F. & Reilly, Michael D. & Carsrud, Alan L., 2000. "Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(5-6), pages 411-432.
    12. Roundy, Philip T. & Brockman, Beverly K. & Bradshaw, Mike, 2017. "The resilience of entrepreneurial ecosystems," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 8(C), pages 99-104.
    13. Galindo, Miguel-Ángel & Méndez, María Teresa, 2014. "Entrepreneurship, economic growth, and innovation: Are feedback effects at work?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(5), pages 825-829.
    14. McKelvey, Bill, 2004. "Toward a complexity science of entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 313-341, May.
    15. Kenney, Martin & von Burg, Urs, 1999. "Technology, Entrepreneurship and Path Dependence: Industrial Clustering in Silicon Valley and Route 128," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 8(1), pages 67-103, March.
    16. Maria Minniti & William Bygrave, 2001. "A Dynamic Model of Entrepreneurial Learning," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 25(3), pages 5-16, April.
    17. Franz Tödtling & Herta Wanzenböck, 2003. "Regional differences in structural characteristics of start-ups," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 351-370, October.
    18. Benyamin B. Lichtenstein, 2011. "Levels and degrees of emergence: toward a matrix of complexity in entrepreneurship," International Journal of Complexity in Leadership and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(3), pages 252-274.
    19. Ben Spigel, 2016. "Developing and governing entrepreneurial ecosystems: the structure of entrepreneurial support programs in Edinburgh, Scotland," International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(2), pages 141-160.
    20. Zoltan J. Acs & Erik Stam & David B. Audretsch & Allan O’Connor, 2017. "The lineages of the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 1-10, June.
    21. Minet Schindehutte & Michael H. Morris, 2009. "Advancing Strategic Entrepreneurship Research: The Role of Complexity Science in Shifting the Paradigm," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(1), pages 241-276, January.
    22. Mia Gray & Elyse Golob & Ann Markusen, 1996. "Big Firms, Long Arms, Wide Shoulders: The 'Hub-and-Spoke' Industrial District in the Seattle Region," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(7), pages 651-666.
    23. Elisabeth S. C. Berger & Andreas Kuckertz, 2016. "The Challenge of Dealing with Complexity in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Research: An Introduction," FGF Studies in Small Business and Entrepreneurship, in: Elisabeth S.C. Berger & Andreas Kuckertz (ed.), Complexity in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Research, edition 1, pages 1-9, Springer.
    24. María-Isabel Encinar & Félix-Fernando Muñoz, 2006. "On novelty and economics: Schumpeter’s paradox," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 255-277, August.
    25. Erik Stam, 2015. "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Regional Policy: A Sympathetic Critique," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(9), pages 1759-1769, September.
    26. Spilling, Olav R., 1996. "The entrepreneurial system: On entrepreneurship in the context of a mega-event," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 91-103, May.
    27. Ben Spigel, 2017. "The Relational Organization of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(1), pages 49-72, January.
    28. Philip T. Roundy, 2017. "Hybrid organizations and the logics of entrepreneurial ecosystems," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 1221-1237, December.
    29. William R. Kerr & Ramana Nanda & Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, 2014. "Entrepreneurship as Experimentation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(3), pages 25-48, Summer.
    30. Elizabeth Mack & Heike Mayer, 2016. "The evolutionary dynamics of entrepreneurial ecosystems," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(10), pages 2118-2133, August.
    31. Boyd Cohen, 2006. "Sustainable valley entrepreneurial ecosystems," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, January.
    32. Minniti, Maria, 2004. "Entrepreneurial alertness and asymmetric information in a spin-glass model," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 637-658, September.
    33. David B. Audretsch (ed.), 2006. "Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Growth," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 4130.
    34. Phillips, Ronnie J., 2011. "Arts Entrepreneurship and Economic Development: Can Every City be "Austintatious"?," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 6(4), pages 239-313, January.
    35. Olya, Hossein GT & Mehran, Javaneh, 2017. "Modelling tourism expenditure using complexity theory," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 147-158.
    36. Janna Alvedalen & Ron Boschma, 2017. "A critical review of entrepreneurial ecosystems research: towards a future research agenda," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(6), pages 887-903, June.
    37. Gartner, William B., 1993. "Words lead to deeds: Towards an organizational emergence vocabulary," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 231-239, May.
    38. Robyn Klingler-Vidra & Martin Kenney & Dan Breznitz, 2016. "Policies for financing entrepreneurship through venture capital: learning from the successes of Israel and Taiwan," International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(3), pages 203-221.
    39. Albort-Morant, Gema & Oghazi, Pejvak, 2016. "How useful are incubators for new entrepreneurs?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 2125-2129.
    40. Garud, Raghu & Karnoe, Peter, 2003. "Bricolage versus breakthrough: distributed and embedded agency in technology entrepreneurship," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 277-300, February.
    41. Fleming, Lee & Sorenson, Olav, 2001. "Technology as a complex adaptive system: evidence from patent data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 1019-1039, August.
    42. Bottazzi, Laura & Peri, Giovanni, 2003. "Innovation and spillovers in regions: Evidence from European patent data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 687-710, August.
    43. Paul Attewell, 1992. "Technology Diffusion and Organizational Learning: The Case of Business Computing," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(1), pages 1-19, February.
    44. Audretsch, David B. & Keilbach, Max C. & Lehmann, Erik E., 2006. "Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195183511.
    45. Lichtenstein, Benyamin B. & Carter, Nancy M. & Dooley, Kevin J. & Gartner, William B., 2007. "Complexity dynamics of nascent entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 236-261, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Roundy, Philip T. & Brockman, Beverly K. & Bradshaw, Mike, 2017. "The resilience of entrepreneurial ecosystems," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 8(C), pages 99-104.
    2. Zhe Cao & Xianwei Shi, 2021. "A systematic literature review of entrepreneurial ecosystems in advanced and emerging economies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 75-110, June.
    3. Theodoraki, Christina & Dana, Léo-Paul & Caputo, Andrea, 2022. "Building sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems: A holistic approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 346-360.
    4. Angelo Cavallo & Antonio Ghezzi & Raffaello Balocco, 2019. "Entrepreneurial ecosystem research: present debates and future directions," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1291-1321, December.
    5. Han, Jin & Ruan, Yi & Wang, Yanmin & Zhou, Haibo, 2021. "Toward a complex adaptive system: The case of the Zhongguancun entrepreneurship ecosystem," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 537-550.
    6. Robertson, Jeandri & Pitt, Leyland & Ferreira, Caitlin, 2020. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems and the public sector: A bibliographic analysis," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    7. Uwe Cantner & James A. Cunningham & Erik E. Lehmann & Matthias Menter, 2021. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems: a dynamic lifecycle model," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 407-423, June.
    8. Rocha, Augusto & Brown, Ross & Mawson, Suzanne, 2021. "Capturing conversations in entrepreneurial ecosystems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    9. Daniel Sunghwan Cho & Paul Ryan & Giulio Buciuni, 2022. "Evolutionary entrepreneurial ecosystems: a research pathway," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1865-1883, April.
    10. Ana-Maria Grigore & Irina-Maria Dragan, 2020. "Towards Sustainable Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in a Transitional Economy: An Analysis of Two Romanian City-Regions through the Lens of Entrepreneurs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-21, July.
    11. Stephens, Simon & McLaughlin, Christopher & Ryan, Leah & Catena, Manuel & Bonner, Aisling, 2022. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems: Multiple domains, dimensions and relationships," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    12. Quoc Hoang Thai & Khuong Ngoc Mai & Tung Thanh Do, 2023. "An Evolution of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Studies: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440231, March.
    13. Philip T. Roundy, 2017. "Hybrid organizations and the logics of entrepreneurial ecosystems," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 1221-1237, December.
    14. Rocha, Augusto & Brown, Ross & Mawson, Suzanne, 2022. "Reprint of: Capturing conversations in entrepreneurial ecosystems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(9).
    15. Raushan Aman & Petri Ahokangas & Xiaotian Zhang, 2021. "Migrant women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial ecosystems during an external shock: a case study from the healthcare sector in Kazakhstan," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(4), pages 518-548, September.
    16. Mariana Pita & Joana Costa & António Carrizo Moreira, 2021. "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Entrepreneurial Initiative: Building a Multi-Country Taxonomy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-26, April.
    17. Yating Li & Martin Kenney & Donald Patton & Abraham Song, 2023. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems and industry knowledge: does the winning region take all?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 153-172, June.
    18. Allan O’Connor & David Audretsch, 2023. "Regional entrepreneurial ecosystems: learning from forest ecosystems," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1051-1079, March.
    19. Kapturkiewicz, Agata, 2022. "Varieties of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: A comparative study of Tokyo and Bangalore," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(9).
    20. Maksim Belitski & Ana-Maria Grigore & Anca Bratu, 2021. "Political entrepreneurship: entrepreneurship ecosystem perspective," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1973-2004, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:86:y:2018:i:c:p:1-10. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.