Entrepreneurial ecosystems and local economy sustainability: institutional actors' views on neo-rural entrepreneurship in low-density Portuguese territories

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the role of neo-rural entrepreneurs in developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem and in the sustainability of the local economy, especially in low-density territories.

Design/methodology/approach

The entrepreneurial ecosystem theory, human capital theory, network theory, and the triple helix model are the theoretical underpinnings of this study. The study has a qualitative, multiple-case methodological approach using semi-structured interviews. The collected reports were submitted for content analysis with the help of the computer application for qualitative data analysis NVivo, version 11.0.

Findings

As main results, the following were found: the conviction that entrepreneurship is a vector of territorial development, the existence of elements of attractiveness to entrepreneurial activity in each territory of the study, the existence of obstacles to entrepreneurship, but also a set of institutional support coming from municipalities and polytechnic institutes and, finally, the type of entrepreneurship therefrom preponderant of necessity.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the extent that it completes gaps in the literature by focussing its analysis on a specific type of entrepreneurship: neo-rural and micro-sized entrepreneurship. It also offers contributions to local government to think of mechanisms that can attract more neo-rural entrepreneurs.

Citation

Dal Bello, U., Marques, C.S., Sacramento, O. and Galvão, A.R. (2022), "Entrepreneurial ecosystems and local economy sustainability: institutional actors' views on neo-rural entrepreneurship in low-density Portuguese territories", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 44-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-04-2021-0088