Title: Co-evolution of an entrepreneurial ecosystem and technology entrepreneurship in a transforming economy

Authors: Mikhail Nazarov; Nadezhda Butryumova; Sergey Aleksandrovskiy; Dmitry Sidorov

Addresses: Faculty of Management, Venture Management Department, HSE University, Bolshaya Pecherskaya 25, 603000, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia ' Faculty of Management, Venture Management Department, HSE University, Bolshaya Pecherskaya 25, 603000, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia ' Faculty of Management, Marketing Department, HSE University, Bolshaya Pecherskaya 25, 603000, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia ' Faculty of Management, Venture Management Department, HSE University, Bolshaya Pecherskaya 25, 603000, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

Abstract: The paper addresses the question of how technologically entrepreneurial companies co-evolve with the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the context of transforming economy and emerging of new institutions. Employing a co-evolutionary approach and a case study design, we have studied 15 technology enterprises established in the Russian region in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. As a result, we have found out about two types of entrepreneurs: 1) "Wild entrepreneurs," more typical for the early stages of transition, are independent and rely on informal institutions; and 2) "Tamed entrepreneurs" become more common during the transition progresses, prefer a clear and developed formal institutional environment. Also, we have discovered that the entrepreneurial ecosystem dynamics are a joint outcome of entrepreneurs' intentionality, environment, and institutional effects. Premature formalisation of institutes in conditions of weak informal institutions may lead to a growing dependence of entrepreneurs and their businesses on an increasingly rigid environment, and thus to the generation of weaker entrepreneurs.

Keywords: entrepreneurial ecosystem; technology entrepreneurship; transforming economy; co-evolution; Russia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTPM.2023.129469

International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, 2023 Vol.23 No.1, pp.42 - 80

Received: 12 Oct 2020
Accepted: 29 Sep 2021
Published online: 10 Mar 2023 *