Power Plays: Surfacing the Hidden Currents in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

J. Terstriep, A. David, L. Zaghow, N. Vershinina and Jörg Freiling
Additional contact information
N. Vershinina: Audencia Business School

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) research has flourished, yet it continues to overlook how powershapes who can mobilise resources, legitimacy, and opportunity within these systems. This paperreframes power as a constitutive, and not incidental, dimension of ecosystem functioning. Integratinginsights from Pfeffer's resource-dependence theory with Foucault's and Bourdieu's social perspec-tives, we develop a Power-Sensitive Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Framework (PSEEF) that conceptu-alises power across micro (entrepreneurial identity), meso (network structures), and macro (institu-tional governance) levels. Our key insight is that power dynamics are the hidden mechanisms throughwhich EEs determine who gains visibility and support, and whose ventures remain peripheral. Rec-ognising these mechanisms enables scholars and practitioners to understand ecosystems not merelyas collections of resources but as evolving arenas of legitimacy and control. The framework providesactionable tools for ecosystem leaders to diagnose and rebalance inequalities, advancing both theanalytical and practical agenda for inclusive and high-performing EEs.

Keywords: power; entrepreneurial ecosystems; heterodoxy; social practice; social organisation; social systems; relationality; entrepreneurial ecosystems mechanisms; entrepreneurship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-11
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 2025, ⟨10.1016/j.jbvi.2025.e00584⟩

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05382012

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2025.e00584

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().