Journal of Entrepreneurship Research

Journal of Entrepreneurship Research

Designing a Model of Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Less Developed Rural Areas

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
1 Post-doctoral Researcher, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
2 Department of Organizational Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
An entrepreneurial ecosystem is a self-organized, adaptive, geographically limited community composed of complex agents operating at multiple and cumulative levels whose non-linear interactions lead to patterns of activities through which new ventures emerge. The present research aims to explain the factors that influence the creation of an entrepreneurship ecosystem in less privileged rural areas of Asad Abad in Hamedan province, Iran using the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) technique. Out of the rural entrepreneurship experts and scholars, 15 people were selected purposefully for a semi-structured interview. Based on the content analysis using the ISM technique, the factors underpinning the creation of an entrepreneurship ecosystem in the less privileged areas were determined and leveled. Based on the results, the creation of entrepreneurial ecosystems in less privileged areas requires the availability and implementation of macro-governance factors, individual-behavioral factors, supportive factors, sociocultural factors, financing, human capital, market, and regional capacity. The results reveal that the macro-governance factors are the most important and effective factors in developing entrepreneurial ecosystems in less privileged regions. Financing and regional capacity are the second-most important factors involved in creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem (as a representative of society) in less privileged areas.
Keywords

 
Aggarwal, A. K. (2018). Rural Entrepreneurship Development Ecosystem – An Emerging Paradigm of Rural Socio-Economic Development (May 24, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3184127 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3184127.
Amolo, J., & Migiro, S. O. (2015). An entrepreneurial flair development: the role of anecosystem. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 13 (2), 494-505. 
Bhawe, N., & Zahra, S. A. (2019). Inducing heterogeneity in local entrepreneurialecosystems: the role of MNEs. Small Business Economics, 52(2), 437-454.
Bosworth, G., & Turner, R. (2018). Interrogating the meaning of a rural business through arural capitals framework. Journal of rural studies, 60, 1-10.
Cohen, B. (2006). Sustainable valley entrepreneurial ecosystems. Business Strategy and the Environment, 15(1), 1-14
Forfas, F. (2009). Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: South West Ireland, rethinkingentrepreneurship. Baseline Data and Analysis, South West Ireland. Dublin. 26p. www.forfas.ie.
Freitas, C., & Kitson, M. (2018). Perceptions of entrepreneurial ecosystems in remoteislands and core regions. Island Studies Journal, 13, 267-284.
Isenberg, D. (2011). The entrepreneurship ecosystem strategy as a new paradigm foreconomic policy: Principles for cultivating entrepreneurship, the Babson entrepreneurship ecosystem project. Babson College, Massachusetts.
Isenberg, D. J. (2010). How to start an entrepreneurial revolution. Harvard business review, 88 (6) 40-50.
Khoshmaram, M., Shiri, N., Shinnar, R. S., & Savari, M. (2020) Environmental support and entrepreneurial behavior among Iranian farmers: The mediating roles of social and human capital. Journal of Small Business Management, 58(5), 1064-1088.
López, M., Cazorla, A., & Panta, M. D. P. (2019). Rural Entrepreneurship Strategies: Empirical Experience in the Northern Sub-Plateau of Spain. Sustainability, 11(5), 12-43.
Mason, C., & Brown, R. (2014). Entrepreneurial ecosystems and growth orientedentrepreneurship. Final Report to OECD, 30 (1), 77-102.
Miles, M. P., & Morrison, M. (2018). An effectual leadership perspective for developingrural entrepreneurial ecosystems. Small Business Economics, 1-17.
Müller, S., & Korsgaard, S. (2018). Resources and bridging: the role of spatial context inrural entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 30 (1-2), 224-255.
Pato, M. L., & Teixeira, A. A. (2016). Twenty years of rural entrepreneurship: abibliometric survey. Sociologia Ruralis, 56(1), 3-28.
Pistrui, D., Blessing, J., & Mekemson, K. (2008). Building an entrepreneurialengineering ecosystem for future generations: the kern Entrepreneurshipeducation network, American Society of Engineering Educators 2008 ASEE. Annual Conference and Exposition, 22–25.
Polbitsyn, S. N. (2019). Russia’s Rural Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. Economy of Region,15, 298-308.
Spigel, B. (2015). The Relational Organization of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems.Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. Forthcoming.
Spigel, B., & Harrison, R. (2018). Toward a process theory of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 12(1), 151-168.
Stam, E. (2015). Entrepreneurial ecosystems and regional policy: a sympathetic critique. European Planning Studies, 23(9), 1759-1769.
Stam, F. C., & Spigel, B. (2016). Entrepreneurial ecosystemsWorking Papers Utrecht School of Economics,16-13.
Suresh, J., & Ramraj, R. (2012). Entrepreneurial ecosystem: case study on theinfluence of environmental factors on entrepreneurial success. European Journalof Business and Management, 4(16), 95-101.
Xu, Z., & Maas, G. (2019). Innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems as important building blocks. Transformational Entrepreneurship Practices, 15-32.

  • Receive Date 01 December 2022
  • Revise Date 24 May 2023
  • Accept Date 24 May 2023