TY - JOUR
T1 - Who is left out
T2 - exploring social boundaries in entrepreneurial ecosystems
AU - Neumeyer, Xaver
AU - Santos, Susana C.
AU - Morris, Michael H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2019/4/1
Y1 - 2019/4/1
N2 - This study attempts to develop our understanding of the ecosystem as a complex social construct by advancing a social network perspective. Based on personal interviews we model the entrepreneurial ecosystems of two municipalities through a diverse network of entrepreneurs, investors, and institutional leaders. The two ecosystems were characterized and compared on measures related to the level of connectivity between actors, the existence of social boundaries, the role and position of actors with certain attributes (e.g. women, minorities) and the presence of ties in multiple social contexts (e.g. friend and investor). Our results suggest that entrepreneurial ecosystems consist of different social clusters, forming boundaries along venture type (e.g. high-growth, lifestyle), type of support institution (e.g. university, government agency), gender, race, and ethnicity. High-growth/technology entrepreneurs, for example, were predominantly white, male and strongly connected to technology commercialization and acceleration programs. In contrast, entrepreneurs operating survival ventures are mainly non-white, female and often socially disconnected from the main institutions. We also found differences with respect to network connectivity between stakeholders in both ecosystems. Based on our findings, we draw managerial implications for different stakeholders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
AB - This study attempts to develop our understanding of the ecosystem as a complex social construct by advancing a social network perspective. Based on personal interviews we model the entrepreneurial ecosystems of two municipalities through a diverse network of entrepreneurs, investors, and institutional leaders. The two ecosystems were characterized and compared on measures related to the level of connectivity between actors, the existence of social boundaries, the role and position of actors with certain attributes (e.g. women, minorities) and the presence of ties in multiple social contexts (e.g. friend and investor). Our results suggest that entrepreneurial ecosystems consist of different social clusters, forming boundaries along venture type (e.g. high-growth, lifestyle), type of support institution (e.g. university, government agency), gender, race, and ethnicity. High-growth/technology entrepreneurs, for example, were predominantly white, male and strongly connected to technology commercialization and acceleration programs. In contrast, entrepreneurs operating survival ventures are mainly non-white, female and often socially disconnected from the main institutions. We also found differences with respect to network connectivity between stakeholders in both ecosystems. Based on our findings, we draw managerial implications for different stakeholders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053540303&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85053540303&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10961-018-9694-0
DO - 10.1007/s10961-018-9694-0
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85053540303
SN - 0892-9912
VL - 44
SP - 462
EP - 484
JO - Journal of Technology Transfer
JF - Journal of Technology Transfer
IS - 2
ER -