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Regional entrepreneurial ecosystems: learning from forest ecosystems

Author

Listed:
  • Allan O’Connor

    (University of South Australia)

  • David Audretsch

    (University of South Australia
    Indiana University)

Abstract

Despite the emerging body of literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs), theoretical development is still in its infancy. In this article, we explicitly draw upon the analogy of forest ecosystems (FEs) with an EE to extrapolate the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem (REE) as an alternate conceptual framework. The REE considers a region’s socioeconomic activity and the stability of its performance as a whole, influenced by partitioned interests of economics, social arrangements, physical environment, knowledge and the technology that each contributes to the community’s industry and economic order. We contend that it is when an EE is defined by a regional dimension that it is analogous to the study of forests. In this REE analysis, neither the entrepreneur nor their firm are the unit of analysis, but it is the change and stability of the regional socioeconomic ecosystem itself that becomes the priority. Scholars, interested in the effects of entrepreneurship, can learn from ecological studies to more fully grasp the interplay between compositional, structural, and functional elements and specifically how entrepreneurs account for change dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Allan O’Connor & David Audretsch, 2023. "Regional entrepreneurial ecosystems: learning from forest ecosystems," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1051-1079, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:60:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-022-00623-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-022-00623-8
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurial ecosystem; Regional entrepreneurial ecosystem; Theory building; Socioeconomic; Realist ontology; Analogy; Metaphor;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L16 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics; Macroeconomic Industrial Structure
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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