The Relational Dynamics and Governance of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Evidence from Edinburgh

Entrepreneurial ecosystems have emerged as an important policy concept for understanding the continued concentration of high-growth entrepreneurship in particular regions. However, ecosystem theory remains conceptually underdeveloped, particularly around questions of governance. This paper explores the interlocking role of private firms, individuals, philanthropists, and the state in create, governing, and reproducing regional entrepreneurial ecosystems. This paper draws on institutional and relational economic geography to explore the ways in which multiple actors create the 'institutional thickness' necessary for a successful ecosystem. This points to the importance of studying the internal dynamics of ecosystem rather than only outcomes like regional rates of entrepreneurship. An examination of the internal dynamics of an ecosystem helps us better understand the contingent nature of their development, the impact of specific policies, and the role of forces operating at a variety of scales, such as global value chains, national and regional policy, and localized dealmakers and role models. Using interviews with technology entrepreneurs, policy makers, and investors in Edinburgh, Scotland, the paper examines the ways in which the governance of the region's ecosystem is negotiated and organized. Edinburgh lacks a central hub around which its technology economy is centred, leaving room for a variety of actors to try to influence the direction and nature of the ecosystem's development. The paper explores the extent to which these actors have contributed to an organized ecosystem or if the region lacks the internal attributes to be considered an effective entrepreneurial ecosystem.