2025 Publication Excellence Award

Summary

The study examines whether high regional economic performance requires a balanced entrepreneurial ecosystem free of bottlenecks. An entrepreneurial ecosystem is understood as a system of interacting actors, institutions, and resources that supports productive entrepreneurship. According to the traditional view, an ecosystem performs particularly well when all of its key components function at an adequate level. The study assesses the validity of this assumption, focusing in particular on whether only balanced ecosystems can generate high economic performance, or whether weaknesses in some ecosystem components can be offset by strengths in others.

The analysis covers 125 NUTS1/NUTS2 regions across 24 European countries. To characterize entrepreneurial ecosystems, the authors use components of the Regional Entrepreneurship and Development Index (REDI), which incorporates both entrepreneurial and institutional factors. Economic performance is measured by regional gross value added (GVA) per employee over the 2014–2016 period. The study applies fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), which makes it possible to examine the different combinations of ecosystem elements associated with high levels of economic performance.

The main finding is that a balanced ecosystem is not the only route to strong economic performance. In some cases, strengths in certain ecosystem components can compensate for weaknesses or the absence of others. Across Europe as a whole, innovation, competition, and opportunity-driven start-ups are particularly important, but no single ecosystem component is indispensable in every case. The study also identifies substantial differences across macro-regions. In Northwestern European regions, high economic performance can be achieved even with relatively unbalanced ecosystem configurations. In regions classified as part of Mediterranean Europe, successful configurations are generally balanced, while in Central and Eastern Europe both balanced and unbalanced configurations can work. For example, weaknesses in financing and high-growth entrepreneurship may be offset by stronger innovation and globalization.

The study’s main policy implication is that there is no universal blueprint for a successful entrepreneurial ecosystem. Regions do not necessarily need to replicate an idealized model such as Silicon Valley; instead, they should build on their own strengths and institutional characteristics. Entrepreneurship policies should therefore be tailored to regional conditions, taking into account both local weaknesses and the strengths that may compensate for them.