Article
Dynamic Capabilities
and Entrepreneurial
Ecosystems: The
Micro-Foundations
of Regional
Entrepreneurship
Philip T. Roundy
1
Dutch Fayard
2
Abstract
In pursuit of the beneficial outcomes of entrepreneurship, governments
and regional development organisations enact policies to stimulate
entrepreneurial activity. A growing focus of policymakers in emerging
and developed economies is the promotion of entrepreneurial ecosys-
tems: the interconnected system of forces that generate and sustain
regional entrepreneurship. Despite intense interest in entrepreneu-
rial ecosystems, the topic is under-theorised. Studies draw attention
to the positive effects of entrepreneurial ecosystems on the creation
and functioning of early-stage ventures; however, the specific mecha-
nisms through which ecosystems influence entrepreneurs are not clear.
To address this issue, we build on dynamic capabilities theory to create
a theoretical framework that identifies a set of forces through which
The Journal of Entrepreneurship
1–27
© 2018 Entrepreneurship
Development Institute of India
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DOI: 10.1177/0971355718810296
journals.sagepub.com/home/joe
1
Summerfield Johnston Centennial Scholar, Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship,
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, College of Business, Chattanooga, TN, USA.
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga,
Gary W. Rollins College of Business, Chattanooga, TN, USA.
Corresponding author:
Philip T. Roundy, Fletcher Hall (412G), Department of Marketing and
Entrepreneurship, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Gary W. Rollins
College of Business, Chattanooga, TN 37403-2598, USA.
E-mail: philip-roundy@utc.edu