Innovation Economics, Engineering and Management Handbook 1

The EE also includes a public policy dimension (Isenberg 2010) aimed precisely at supporting entrepreneurial activity and innovation in a given territorial space. The EE is also seen as a powerful tool for fighting poverty by enhancing individual initiative (Prahalat 2005). In this sense, the EE is not the result of an individual decision (public or private), but of a set of interactions that emerge in the absence of a “global controller” (Roundy et al . 2018). The BE also includes a set of interrelationships between different stakeholders, which may include not only other businesses, consumers, etc., but also universities or non-profit organizations. Autio et al . (2014) criticize the theories of entrepreneurship that essentially focus on the individual dimension of the entrepreneur while neglecting the contextual aspects (industrial, technological, organizational, institutional, social, temporal and spatial). Cultural dimensions are largely emphasized to characterize an EE through the sharing of common values. Venture capitalists also present on the territory support the creation of start-ups there because they are convinced of their chances of success. Regional or local public authorities organize events to support entrepreneurial activity at the territorial level (Scaringella and Radziwon 2018). By emphasizing the role of the entrepreneur, the EE also includes the idea of bottom-up development, generally by poorer populations who find in entrepreneurship an opportunity to create their own jobs. In this context, we will speak of an agile innovation that comes from the combination of reduced resources. The institutional changes that emerged from the 1990s with the end of the Cold War and the planned economy are widely discussed. The market and the creation of companies within the framework of these changes have been singled out as powerful tools to fight poverty (Prahalat 2005).

Criticizing the use of the term ecosystem, which is used excessively in their opinion (BE, EE, innovation, etc.), Scaringella and Radziwon (2018) constructed a reading grid to identify the invariants of the ecosystem approach. We will use it to distinguish the BE from the EE, highlighting invariants and characteristics. The invariants are the following: 1) territory 2) values; 3) stakeholders; 4) economic theories; 5) social policy; 6) knowledge and 7) results obtained by the BE or EE (see Table 3.1).

Table 5.1. Business and entrepreneurial ecosystems, invariants and own characteristics (source: Scaringella and Radziwon (2018))

There are subtle differences between the BE and EE. The dominant idea is the creation of an economic community whose members maintain synergistic and co-creative relationships to encourage innovation. The territorial dimension is diminished in the BE as opposed to the EE, which also emphasizes coherence, which is reinforced by appropriate public policy measures. The BE is part of a reflection that favors individual initiative. Poorer populations are thus accorded a route out of poverty by innovating. Emphasis is placed on the coherence of the ecosystem and on the sharing of common values and objectives among stakeholders. The role of innovation support institutions (e.g. incubators) is frequently emphasized in the BE. On the other hand, in the BE, it is the pivotal firm that is designated as a driver for innovation.

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