Entrepreneurial ecosystem well-being: Unpacking the multilevel, multidimensional, and configurational nature of entrepreneurial ecosystem health

Abstract

Over the last decade, entrepreneurial ecosystems have gained considerable academic and practical attention. Several approaches have been developed to assess the health and wellfunctioning of entrepreneurial ecosystems, such as the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Index, among others. While there is progress in understanding the multilevel and multidimensional character of entrepreneurial ecosystems, existing frameworks of ecosystem health are primarily concerned with economic outcomes, which overemphasize the construction of entrepreneurial ecosystems as quantifiable formal and informal conditions. Yet, our society’s contemporary social and environmental problems require a broader understanding of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems, including individual well-being, social and economic inclusion, sustainable communities, and environmental concerns. This dissertation aims to unpack the multilevel, multidimensional, and configurational nature of entrepreneurial ecosystem health by developing an integrative model of entrepreneurial ecosystem well-being. To achieve this goal, this dissertation consists of three studies. Study 1 proposes a theoretical conceptualization of “entrepreneurial ecosystem well-being” by exploring its key characteristics and dimensions, drawing on ecology research. The proposed theoretical framework more comprehensively captures the role of entrepreneurial ecosystems in sustainable and inclusive economic development by combining economic and non-economic elements of ecosystems. Building on an empirical multi-case investigation involving 51 interviews with prominent ecosystem stakeholders in Amsterdam, Berlin, Medellín, São Paulo, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Stockholm, and Tel Aviv, Study 2 explores manifestations of entrepreneurial ecosystem well-being depicted as differing configurations of well-being dimensions. Accordingly, by introducing a new configurational perspective on entrepreneurial ecosystems, four different types of ecosystem well-being are identified: Expansive, Instrumental, Grassroots, and Limited ecosystem well-being. Study 3 complements Study 1 and Study 2 by developing and validating a quantitative index of entrepreneurial ecosystem well-being. By capitalizing on multiple rich data sources at the regional level in Europe, the well-being of 272 entrepreneurial ecosystems across the 27 EU member states and the UK is analyzed, and its effects on regional economic, social, and environmental outcomes, along with its moderating role of the entrepreneurial innovation – outcomes link are further investigated. By studying the nexus between entrepreneurial ecosystems and well-being, this dissertation offers various theoretical, practical, and managerial contributions. Firstly, it contributes to entrepreneurial ecosystem literature by proposing a multilevel, multidimensional model of entrepreneurial ecosystem well-being. Secondly, the dissertation advances literature concerned with the diversity of entrepreneurial ecosystems by developing ecosystem well-being types capable of capturing different configurations of ecosystem well-being dimensions. Thirdly, the dissertation contributes to extant research on entrepreneurial ecosystem measurements by proposing a compelling approach to assessing entrepreneurial ecosystem well-being and investigating its effects on regional outcomes. Consequently, it presents various practical implications for regional development, entrepreneurship, and innovation policymakers concerned with designing programs and ways to improve the health of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Through this dissertation, a more general but important message has been conveyed: Contemporary social and environmental problems need a more inclusive understanding of entrepreneurial ecosystems, which, in turn, are conducive to positive social and environmental impact besides economic development, job creation, and regional innovation.