Microfoundations of entrepreneurial ecosystems
A critical commentary on future Research directions
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14867405 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Angelo Cavallo (0000-0002-9208-6870), Angelo Farias Cavallo (ETH Zurich, corresponding author), Massimo Gaetano Colombo (Politecnico di Milano), Nicolai Juul Fo (0000-0003-2049-8347, Copenhagen Business School), Nicolai J Foss |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Small Business Economics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0921-898X • E-ISSN: 1573-0913 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11187-026-01202-x |
| OpenAlex | W7135067692 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 78 |
Research on entrepreneurial ecosystems has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, generating substantial insights into their constituent elements and associated outcomes. However, the microfoundational mechanisms through which these elements and outcomes interact across levels of analysis remain poorly understood, limiting theoretical progress in the entrepreneurial ecosystems literature. This paper offers a critical examination of existing research on entrepreneurial ecosystems, including early contributions that explicitly adopt a microfoundational perspective. We argue that greater conceptual clarity is needed with respect to system-level properties and, in particular, the distinction between microfoundational elements and causal mechanisms. We emphasize the importance of developing functional microfoundations, understood as the strategic actions and interactions through which ecosystem-level elements and outcomes are generated and sustained. Drawing on illustrative examples and alternative conceptualizations of key constructs, the paper provides guidance for developing robust, mechanism-based theories that advance understanding of the microfoundations of entrepreneurial ecosystems
CLARITY · Conceptual framework · Entrepreneurship · Key (lock · Limiting · Microfoundations · Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences · Private Equity and Venture Capital · University-Industry-Government Innovation Models
Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences
Microfoundations of Routines and Capabilities
Managerial cognitive capabilities and the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities
What Are Microfoundations?
The Relational Organization of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial ecosystem research
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Regional Policy
Toward an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Research Program
Sustainable valley entrepreneurial ecosystems
Entry by Spinoffs
The emergence of entrepreneurial ecosystems
Institutions, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Growth
Disagreements, Spinoffs, and the Evolution of Detroit as the Capital of the U.S. Automobile Industry
The Microfoundations Movement in Strategy and Organization Theory
Organizational Theories
Explicating dynamic capabilities
Reprint of
Measuring entrepreneurial ecosystems across levels
The lineages of the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach
Entrepreneurship, institutional economics, and economic growth
Values and entrepreneurship in the sustainable society
Entrepreneurial ecosystem elements
Levels of necessity of entrepreneurial ecosystems elements
The origin and growth of industry clusters
Figuring it out
Towards an entrepreneurial ecosystem typology for regional economic development
After the exit
Improving Business Practices and the Boundary of the Entrepreneur
Prior employment as a causal mechanism within entrepreneurial ecosystems
Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems
Social Norms and Economic Theory
Entrepreneurship as Experimentation
The Changing Face of Methodological Individualism
Causal Mechanisms in the Social Sciences
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |