Meaningful analysis of innovation, business and entrepreneurial ecosystem concepts

Abstract

Over the last decade, academic literature has seen a boom in the number of publications devoted to the notion of ecosystem, which has resulted in the emergence of various research streams and the corresponding fragmentation of the research domain. The existing variation in meanings and contradictory definitions shows the need for a thorough literature review on the three tightly related concepts of innovation ecosystem, business ecosystem and entrepreneurial ecosystem. This study is based on a mixed technique, which combines a bibliometric analysis and an in-depth investigation of papers devoted to these research streams. Through examining their theoretical background, constructing conceptual structures and performing an in-depth analysis we were able to define the essence of innovation, business and entrepreneurial ecosystems as well as their distinctive features. We then proceeded with a comparative analysis of these concepts, which allowed us to outline the existing similarities and to demarcate the concepts from an ontological perspective. This study provides definitive clarification regarding the existing conceptual mix in the field of ecosystem research, and can be used as a foundation for a further investigation of the concept.