Space and Social Capital: The Degree of Locality in Entrepreneurs' Contacts and its Consequences for Firm Success

Schutjens, Veronique; Völker, Beate

doi:10.1080/09654311003701480

Cited by 43 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…This is a break with an older tradition that focused on the individual attributes and psychological profiles of entrepreneurs (Dodd and Anderson, 2007). Entrepreneurs draw the resources they require to start and grow the firm through their personal and professional social networks, with the densest and strongest connections often found within their local environment (Schutjens and Völker, 2010). The quality of the social capital and networks of a community will therefore have a significant impact on the ability of entrepreneurs to gather the information, resources, and support they require.…”

Section: Entrepreneurial Environments and Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing and governing entrepreneurial ecosystems: the structure of entrepreneurial support programs in Edinburgh, Scotland

Spigel

2016

IJIRD

112

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Researchers and policymakers are increasingly employing the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems to understand the concentration of high growth ventures in certain regions. Ecosystems represent the economic, social, and policy environment surrounding the entrepreneurship process. Public and privately run entrepreneurship support organisations (ESOs) form a critical part of entrepreneurial ecosystems by providing training and resources to entrepreneurs and new ventures. However, the role of ESOs within ecosystems is poorly understood with little conceptual or empirical discussions about how they contribute to the development of successful entrepreneurial ecosystems. To address this gap this paper employs the concept of institutional thickness to identify the optimum structure of support programs within a region. The role of institutional thickness is explored through an investigation of entrepreneurship support programs aimed at technology entrepreneurs in Edinburgh, UK. 43 ESOs are identified and their actives and types of support they provide analysed. The paper argues that there is the need for a new approach to the role of ESOs within ecosystems that looks beyond a single program but instead embraces a more holistic perspective that sees how they work in conjunction to provide support for firms throughout the venture creation and growth process.

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Section: Entrepreneurial Environments and Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing and governing entrepreneurial ecosystems: the structure of entrepreneurial support programs in Edinburgh, Scotland

Spigel

2016

IJIRD

112

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“…However, the weakness of these studies is that they often confine their analysis to local interactions, leaving aside extra-regional linkages. As local social networks are larger and interaction more regular in urban regions [28,33,34], social capital is considered lower in rural areas, which again may leave them with a disadvantage regarding entrepreneurial dynamics.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first set of studies takes a relational perspective and emphasizes that the social capital of entrepreneurs is important for their success [32][33][34]. As Westlund and Bolton [35] argue, the primary role of social capital is to give small firms a producer surplus.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rural–Urban Linkages and Sustainable Regional Development: The Role of Entrepreneurs in Linking Peripheries and Centers

2016

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Urban and rural areas differ in economic, social and environmental terms. Due to the diverging dynamics in urban and rural areas, the social and economic distance between them might increase in the future even more. Rural entrepreneurs with linkages to urban areas are able to bridge the rural-urban divide by accessing some of the urban features, such as knowledge and markets, while at the same time profiting from the advantages of their peripheral location. This paper highlights exploratory results from qualitative interviews with rural entrepreneurs, and we illustrate entrepreneurial linkages to urban centers. The interview data show that rural entrepreneurs with rural-urban linkages develop sensibility for core market demands and trends, they valuate rural assets, and they combine rural and urban sources of knowledge for innovation. Through their entrepreneurial activity, rural entrepreneurs with linkages to urban areas might constitute an opposite force to polarizing concentration of economic activities in cities. Hence, rural entrepreneurs with urban linkages might contribute to sustainable economic relationships between urban and rural areas.

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“…By doing this, firms have the chance to communicate with each other, and they establish internal mutual trust. Schutjens and Völker's (2010) study of 385 Germany enterprises found that the enterprises' economic performance is tightly tied to the local network.…”

Section: Relations Among Regionally Homogenous Clusters In the Same Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relations among Clusters in Six Chinese City Regions

Zhang

Reve

2013

European Planning Studies

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Despite the considerable number of papers that have discussed industrial clusters, it is surprising that little research evidence on relations among clusters. This paper collects longitudinal data on three low-tech and two high-tech industrial clusters in six cities in the dynamic Pearl River Delta of the People's Republic of China. The findings provide empirical support to both the MAR model, which argues for the importance of homogenous (specialized) clusters and the Jacobs model, which argues for the importance of heterogeneous (diversified) clusters. Both homogenous and heterogeneous clusters in the same region influence one another's cluster size and economic output.

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Space and Social Capital: The Degree of Locality in Entrepreneurs' Contacts and its Consequences for Firm Success

Cited by 43 publications

References 49 publications

Developing and governing entrepreneurial ecosystems: the structure of entrepreneurial support programs in Edinburgh, Scotland

Developing and governing entrepreneurial ecosystems: the structure of entrepreneurial support programs in Edinburgh, Scotland

Rural–Urban Linkages and Sustainable Regional Development: The Role of Entrepreneurs in Linking Peripheries and Centers

Relations among Clusters in Six Chinese City Regions

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