Special issue information: Entrepreneurial ecosystem research's tendency to focus on macro-level factors has hindered theoretical advancement on the key underlying dynamics of new venture creation and growth. To cope with these challenges, this Special Issue aims to advance knowledge on the microfoundations of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE).
Microfoundations extend beyond the simple notion of 'bringing individuals back in' (e.g., Roundy and Lyons, 2023). They entail linking micro-level factors (e.g., actors, structures, and processes) to macro-level outcomes (Cosenz et al., 2023; Felin et al., 2015; Coleman, 1990). Advancing methods and theory on microdynamics and their link with macro-level factors and outcomes remains a core challenge for progressing the EE debate for two primary reasons (Cosenz et al., 2023). First, from a theoretical perspective, the emphasis on the ecosystem as the primary unit of analysis has diverted attention from the individual- and firm-specific factors that constitute the essence of every ecosystem (Felin and Foss, 2023). Without clear foundations, the EE becomes an ambiguous "umbrella concept" (Stam, 2015). Second, from a policy perspective, the limited understanding of microfoundations of EEs has partially hindered research attempts to provide actionable policy insights (Rocha et al., 2021).
Therefore, a call for research focusing on the micro foundations of EEs and micro-macro links represents a unique opportunity to advance entrepreneurship theory by leveraging and integrating theoretical lenses and insights from disciplines as diverse as strategic management, economic geography, behavioral economics, social psychology, and policy science, among others (in addition to entrepreneurship).
Below, we propose an exemplary list of research questions. We encourage scholars to expand our current understanding of EEs by investigating the following two links that ground the microfoundations of EEs and are still not well understood: macro–micro and micro–macro (arrows 1 and 3 in Coleman, 1990). The examples are intended to offer guidance on the scope and research questions suitable for the Special Issue without aiming to be comprehensive.
Macro–Micro
- How do EE macro-level factors (i.e., regulation and social norms, resources, governance) influence the learning and transformation of individuals and organizations (Cope, 2005; Politis, 2005) through changes in structures and processes (Felin et al., 2015; Kim et al., 2016)?
- How do external shocks – such as the 2008 global financial crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic, affect EEs' primary components (i.e., individuals, structures, and processes) (Siegel and Guerrero, 2021)?
- How can EE outcomes (e.g., the birth of scalable new firms) drive changes in EEs' primary components? Does EE success breed the success of its components (Isenberg, 2010)? What are the boundary conditions that make it happen?
- Which macro-level characteristics of EEs (e.g., the supply of financial and human capital, social norms favoring trust, favorable regulation) attract entrepreneurs and investors from other EEs, and which ones repel them, favoring re-localization (Bryan and Guzman, 2023)?
- How can urban space design influence EE actors' behavior and favor the development of gender and ethnic minority-friendly EEs (Dutta et al., 2022)?
- How do EEs shape a common identity among different actors (entrepreneurs, employees, investors, public officers), thus reducing agency and transaction costs within and across organizations (Thompson et al., 2017)?
- How do entrepreneurial structures and processes and individual and firm-level actions foster EE framework conditions and outcomes (Shi and Shi, 2022)?
- How does technology transfer management and academic entrepreneurship affect EEs and their associated outcomes (Siegel and Wright, 2015)?
- How do EE actors' characteristics (e.g., academic vs. corporate entrepreneurs) and diversity (e.g., education, prior experience, presence of minority groups) affect EE framework conditions and outcomes (Colombo and Piva, 2012; Rocha et al., 2021)?
- How do external enablers (e.g., platforms, AI) influence individuals, structures, and processes, thus altering EE framework conditions and outcomes (Davidsson et al., 2020; Autio et al., 2018; Davidsson, 2015)?
- Does high employment mobility within EEs (e.g., across firms, between firms, universities, investors, and public policy bodies) ensure high dynamism, capability enrichment, and innovation within EEs? Or is it a source of conflicts and distrust (e.g., increasing knowledge misappropriation risks, generating conflicts of interest), thus magnifying transaction costs and reducing the effectiveness of EEs?
We encourage submissions of empirical and conceptual papers that can provide a unique perspective using diverse methodological approaches, and interdisciplinary co-author teams.
Please read more about this opportunity here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/special-issue/316834/special-issue-on-the-microfoundations-of-entrepreneurial-ecosystems
Guest editors:
· David Audretsch, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA (daudrets@indiana.edu)
· Angelo Cavallo, Polytechnic University of Milan, Milan, Italy (angelo.cavallo@polimi.it)
· Massimo Colombo, Polytechnic University of Milan, Milan, Italy (massimo.colombo@polimi.it)
· Philip T. Roundy, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA (philip-roundy@utc.edu)
· Erik Stam, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands (e.stam@uu.nl)
JBV editor
Mirjam Knockaert, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium (mirjam.knockaert@ugent.be)
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Angelo Cavallo
Politecnico di Milano
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