ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AS A KEYSTONE FOR NEW VENTURE CREATION: EVIDENCE FROM COMMUNITY INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS

Abstract

This paper researches the effect of entrepreneurship education on community innovation ecosystems and the creation of new ventures. Based on a multi-site study of six ecosystems, this study surveyed university- and community-based entrepreneurship program participants and analyzed the influence of pedagogical design, ecosystem embeddedness, and resource availability on future new venture activity within a 24-month period. Ecosystem education participants were 9–14% more likely to create a new venture, compared to no participants and controlling for past entrepreneurial activity and the state of the local economy. Ecosystem brokerage, cross-sector mentoring, and experiential education were positively correlated to new venture creation. This was based on a hierarchical logistic regression and was supported by 42 semi-structured interviews. Some of the positive effects captured were due to Cue improvements in the recognition of opportunities, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and the participant networks’ diversity. The interviews suggested that programs providing the first point of access to the ecosystem prepare participants in teams to fill the information gaps of funding and compliance. This research seeks to define the link between the provision of entrepreneurship education and the creation of innovation ecosystems. More specifically, it aims to fill the gap in the connection between micro levels of entrepreneurship education and their accompanying macro levels of the entrepreneurship domain within innovation ecosystems.