Entrepreneurial support in search of legitimacy: exploring practices in the context of a public finance crisis[L'accompagnement entrepreneurial en quête de légitimité : exploration des pratiques dans le contexte de crise des finances publiques]

The entrepreneurial ecosystem includes support structures that play a key role for entrepreneurs, whether in terms of resource circulation or connections with other actors. Historically supported by public authorities as a genuine employment policy, entrepreneurial support now faces increasing budgetary constraints that raise questions about the sustainability of business creation initiatives. While entrepreneurial legitimacy has been studied extensively, the legitimacy of support structures remains underexplored, particularly from an ecosystemic perspective. This article examines how support organizations build their legitimacy in a context of public finance crisis. The methodology is based on an exploratory qualitative analysis of eighteen semi-structured interviews conducted with several organizations funded primarily through public resources. The analysis reveals a set of legitimation practices implemented from a multi-level perspective. This research contributes to the literature on the legitimacy of entrepreneurial support in times of crisis and proposes an analytical framework applicable to entrepreneurial ecosystems. It also offers managerial insights by identifying concrete levers that support organizations can mobilize to strengthen their legitimacy with public authorities.