The Missing Pieces in the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Puzzle: A Complex Perspective on Economic Growth

The entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) concept is widely popular, but it has recently attracted criticism. This paper aims to critically construct this tension and build on the contributions of complexity economics, which are currently limited in entrepreneurial studies, as well as the absence of entrepreneurship in economic complexity. This paper contributes to understanding how economic transformation—entrepreneurship, growth, development—starts, evolves, diffuses, and declines with a novel perspective and moves closer to unravelling the mystery of economic growth. Proceeding from the divergent views of economic complexity and entrepreneurship, this article finds the missing components to understand the role of entrepreneurialism in economic growth. Agency, culture, and collective action are the missing pieces to fill in the puzzle; however, the key element overarching all of them is the transmission of entrepreneurialism, the moving force enabling interactions that shape actors’ actions. The article finds narrative to be both the research object and approach and concludes by setting the research agenda and pointing to novel methods of inquiry on the what, how, and why of entrepreneurialism in entrepreneurial ecosystems. The implications of this research are useful to policymakers who prioritise setting, planning, and achieving economic growth.