Ballasts of the entrepreneurial ecosystem

Abstract

Entrepreneurial ecosystem research has developed into a distinct field of study and extant frameworks and models consider the heterogeneous characteristics of ecosystems as a focal point for policymakers seeking to bolster regional entrepreneurial performance. Despite theoretical consensus on these issues, however, entrepreneurial ecosystem research has achieved only modest results in practice for catalyzing entrepreneurial activity. This is largely due to current models providing opaque targets for policymakers to focus their energies, a quandary that this qualitative study attempts to resolve. This research suggests that practical results can be improved by concentrating resource allocations on regional entrepreneurial ecosystem ballasts, which represent the various stakeholders who serve important roles as connectors, vettors, promoters, and chroniclers to catalyze entrepreneurial activity and support cultural heterogeneity. Concomitantly, this research also builds upon previous scholarship which has attempted to connect ecosystem attributes with the benefits that they provide to entrepreneurs.