Towards an entrepreneurial ecosystem typology for regional economic development: the role of creative class and entrepreneurship

Who drives regional economic development in entrepreneurial ecosystems of different types? Using longitudinal data on 267 NUTS-3 European regions during the period 2008-16, we apply the entrepreneurial ecosystem theoretical framework to study how entrepreneurial ecosystem type moderates the relationship between a variety of entrepreneurship and regional economic development. It is found that regional economic development proxied by gross value added per resident responds differently to solo self-employment, job creators and new-firm birth rates as well as changes in a share of productive high-growth entrepreneurship across different entrepreneurial ecosystems. The findings have implications for regional and national policy-makers and scholars who study the geography of entrepreneurship.

Automated summary

This study examined how different types of entrepreneurial ecosystems influence the relationship between entrepreneurship and regional economic development in European regions. The findings suggest that regional economic development responds differently to various forms of entrepreneurship in different entrepreneurial ecosystems, which has important implications for policymakers and scholars.