Sustainable Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: A Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Developing Economies
Abstract
Entrepreneurship for sustainability is now a key tool for tackling the economic, social and environmental issues of developing economies. The impact of entrepreneurial activities, however, is heavily reliant on the surrounding entrepreneurial ecosystem and various stakeholders' interactions. In this study, we attempted to investigate the factors that drive the sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystems and multi-stakeholder framework for developing economics. A quantitative research design was used by using secondary country level data which includes economic, institutional, social, technological and environmental indicators from developing economies. An Ecosystem Index for Sustainable Entrepreneurship (SEEI) was developed to measure the performance of the ecosystem, and statistical analysis such as descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were used to determine important influence factors. Among the findings, digital connectivity, renewable energy use, institutional quality, women's legal empowerment and trade openness had positive impacts on the performance of the ecosystem, while poverty, environmental harm due to carbon consumption and high costs of business start-ups were significant impediments. The results also showed that the dimensions of economic, social, institutional and environmental are interdependent and constitute sustainable entrepreneurship ecosystems and not individual factors per se. The research results resulted in the proposal of a multi-stakeholder framework, which shows how the governments, financial institutions, communities, entrepreneurs, and sustainability-oriented actors can contribute to inclusive and resilient entrepreneurial development. The study will add to the Sustainable entrepreneurship and ecosystem literature by drawing empirical evidence from the developing economies and will help the policy makers in promoting entrepreneurship for Sustainable and inclusive economic growth.