CONFIGURATIONS OF KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEMS: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE STATE OF SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

Abstract

The dominant discourse on Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EE) remains focused on the profile o f a handful of successful locations. This situation has hindered an in-depth comprehension of the economic mechanisms that shape evolutionary trends in entrepreneurial activity and how they operate in distinct places. We hypothesize that EE can have regularities, but they can also assume different configurations , i.e., varying combinations of influential dimensions that can generate similar outcomes. Through fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, we address this issue with data from the State of São Paulo, Brazil. This research focused on twelve causal conditions for the emergence of EE, divided into five dimensions : Science & Technology, Human Capital, Market Dynamics, Business Dynamics and Infrastructure. Findings presented distinct general p aths across different configurational solutions, highlighting the heterogeneous nature of EE. With few exceptions, the absence of Research Universities, lead to the absence of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial activity emphasizing the key role of these i nstitutions in the process.