Abstract
Contemporary works on entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) suffer from a lack of theorization. We address this problem by conceptualizing EEs as institutional fields, which is an analytical construct that is already well-elaborated on in neo-institutional theory. This theory provides a processual lens that is sensitive to the role of both institutions and agency in field structuration. Additionally, understanding EEs as fields can help to capture dynamics within EEs as well as their relationships with other fields. Following this approach, entrepreneurial issue fields mainly focus on debates around entrepreneurship and new venture creation, whereas entrepreneurial exchange fields focus on products and services produced by and offering support for a set of mainly industry-specific new ventures. In addition, we discuss mechanisms for transformations between both types of fields.
Acknowledgement
The authors thank the three anonymous reviewers of ZFW, Oliver Ibert, Agata Kapturkiewicz, and Andreas Kuebart for their very helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper.
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© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelseiten
- Editorial
- Entrepreneurial ecosystems: Founding figures and research frontiers in economic geography
- Research articles
- Entrepreneurial ecosystems as fields: Integrating meso-level institutional theory
- Operationalising relational theory of entrepreneurial ecosystems at city-level in Africa, Asia and the Middle East
- A new framework to measure entrepreneurial ecosystems at the regional level
- Beyond territorial conceptions of entrepreneurial ecosystems: The dynamic spatiality of knowledge brokering in seed accelerators
- Applying the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems in Estonia
- Book review
- Allan O’Connor, Erik Stam, Fiona Sussan and David B. Audretsch (eds): Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. Place-Based Transformations and Transitions. Springer (2018), 194 рр.
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelseiten
- Editorial
- Entrepreneurial ecosystems: Founding figures and research frontiers in economic geography
- Research articles
- Entrepreneurial ecosystems as fields: Integrating meso-level institutional theory
- Operationalising relational theory of entrepreneurial ecosystems at city-level in Africa, Asia and the Middle East
- A new framework to measure entrepreneurial ecosystems at the regional level
- Beyond territorial conceptions of entrepreneurial ecosystems: The dynamic spatiality of knowledge brokering in seed accelerators
- Applying the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems in Estonia
- Book review
- Allan O’Connor, Erik Stam, Fiona Sussan and David B. Audretsch (eds): Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. Place-Based Transformations and Transitions. Springer (2018), 194 рр.