Meaningful analysis of innovation, business and entrepreneurial ecosystem concepts

Russian Management Journal. 2020. Vol. 18. No. 1. P. 73–102.

Burda Y., Volkova I., Gavrikova E.

Over the last decade academic literature faced a boom of publications devoted to the notion of ecosystem, which resulted in the emergence of various research streams and corresponding fragmentation of the research domain. Existing variety of meanings and contradictory definitions necessitates conducting a thorough literature review on three tightly coupled concepts of innovation ecosystem, business ecosystem and entrepreneurial ecosystem. This study is based upon a mixed technique, which combines bibliometric analysis and in-depth investigation of papers devoted to these research streams. Trough examining their theoretical background, constructing conceptual structures and in-depth analysis we were able to define the essence of innovation, business and entrepreneurial ecosystems as well as their distinctive features. Then we proceed with the comparative analysis of these concepts, which allowed us to outline existing similarities and to demarcate them from an ontological perspective. This study provides certain clarification for the existing conceptual mix in the field of ecosystem research and can be used as a foundation for a further investigation of the concept.

Keywords: value creation, ecosystem, innovation ecosystem, bibliometric analysis, entrepreneurial ecosystem, coopetition, business ecosystem