Creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem in a ‘knowledge desert’: the role of international connectivity and public institutional support

Whilst the literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) predominantly concentrates on endogenously developed systems of entrepreneurial actors, this paper investigates the atypical emergence of EEs initiated by inward foreign direct investment (FDI). In these more deviant cases, international connectivity and public policy initiative are rooted in the ecosystem from the outset, but their interdependence has received only limited attention to date. This gap led to our research question: how does the interplay between public institutional support and international connectivity facilitate the emergence and growth of an entrepreneurial ecosystem in a ‘desert of knowledge’? An empirical analysis is undertaken on the development of the Medical Technology sector in two locations — Costa Rica Central Valley and the West of Ireland — where inward FDI from public policy initiative was the trigger for the genesis and subsequent growth of the sector in both regions. Despite having similar starting points, an entrepreneurial ecosystem has developed in one location (West of Ireland), whilst the other (Costa Rica Central Valley) has fallen short to date. By undertaking a comparative analysis, the main finding reveals that public institutional support must promote the local development of knowledge capabilities to absorb knowledge from abroad (outside-in) and transform knowledge to serve an international market through domestic new entrepreneurial firms and FDI (inside-out). The evolving nature, timing, and quality of public institutional support and international connectivity matters in hindering or promoting an EE from FDI.