Lessons on technopreneurship in Kaliningrad region: Regional hubs in global networks

Abstract

Over the past quarter of a century, the concepts of cluster development and entrepreneurial ecosystems have become very popular, which caused a heated debate about their relevance and conceptual rigor. In addition, the existing literature on clusters underestimates the role of entrepreneurs in enhancing the agglomeration effect that ties together organizations, labor, markets, and supporting ecosystems. This paper aims to study the main lessons of the development of technopreneurship in a specific region, namely in Kaliningrad region, and to show the path for creation of regional growth hubs and their embedment in global networks. The best practices are analyzed to highlight the priority areas of industrial development in the region. A conceptual model of its growth driver is proposed. Thus, the paper contributes to the existing debate about the directions of technopreneurship development and shows a specific growth point in global networks for the studied region.