Entrepreneurial ecosystems, regional clusters, and industrial districts: Historical transformations or rhetorical devices?

Abstract

Following the call for an assessment of recent developments and an understanding of the state-of-the-art of entrepreneurial ecosystems, this paper investigates the historical evolution of entrepreneurial ecosystems, regional clusters, and industrial districts to untangle their necessary and specific dimensions and policy implications. It aims at reducing the gap between the increasing academic and policy interest in entrepreneurial ecosystems and the theoretical grounds upon which research and policies are based. To this end, it traces back the phenomena of ecosystems, clusters, and industrial districts to their origin, using critical realism ontology and historical organization studies as research methods. This paper contributes a historical and theoretical framework that provides academic rigor for understanding entrepreneurial ecosystems and policy rationales for evaluating economic development policies.