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Examining the cohesiveness and nestedness entrepreneurial ecosystems: evidence from British FinTechs

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  • Ben Spigel

    (University of Edinburgh Business School)

Abstract

It is not clear if entrepreneurial ecosystems are cohesive wholes within a region that support high-growth entrepreneurship across a variety of sectors or if ecosystems are made up of several, nested sectoral-specific sub-ecosystems. This debate speaks to larger disagreements about what entrepreneurial ecosystems are and how they work. This paper addresses this research gap by using a novel methodology based on career history data of founders and top management teams of high-growth FinTech ventures. This method is used to classify the backgrounds of 1,570 individuals in 380 British FinTech firms based on their prior job histories and employers into categories such as technology or finance. The paper finds substantial evidence of nestedness in the ecosystems, but rather than FinTech ecosystems being specialized finance or technology clusters, more generic forms of managerial know-how remain crucial to firm innovation and growth. This suggests that even very advanced ecosystems remain nested, with few cross-over points between different communities.

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  • Ben Spigel, 2022. "Examining the cohesiveness and nestedness entrepreneurial ecosystems: evidence from British FinTechs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1381-1399, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:59:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s11187-021-00589-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-021-00589-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Marta Gancarczyk & Óscar Rodil-Marzábal, 2022. "Fintech framing financial ecologies: Conceptual and policy-related implications," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 18(4), pages 7-44.
    2. Coad, Alex & Srhoj, Stjepan, 2023. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems and regional persistence of high growth firms: A ‘broken clock’ critique," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    3. Audretsch, David Bruce & Belitski, Maksim & Guerrero, Maribel, 2023. "Sustainable orientation management and institutional quality: Looking into European entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    4. Molla, Alemayehu & Biru, Ashenafi, 2023. "The evolution of the Fintech entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa: An exploratory study and model for future development," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PA).
    5. Siqueira, Erica H.S. & Fischer, Bruno Brandão & Bin, Adriana & Kickul, Jill, 2023. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems’ readiness towards knowledge-intensive sustainable entrepreneurship: Evidence from Brazil," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    6. Andrea Ancona & Matteo Cinelli & Giovanna Ferraro & Antonio Iovanella, 2023. "Network-based principles of entrepreneurial ecosystems: a case study of a start-up network," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1497-1514, December.

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