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This study aims to explore network typology and the role of networks in immigrant entrepreneurs’ (IEs) business operations in South Africa (SA).

In-depth interviews were carried out with 25 IEs operating their business ventures in SA, selected via the purposive sampling method.

The findings indicated that IEs in SA use social networks most often, with minimal use of international business networks. In addition, the findings showed that IE networks’ key roles include providing them with access to referrals and resource provision. However, whilst resource provision emerged as a significant role, finance appeared as the main resource provided by networks.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this original paper provided theoretical and empirical contributions to research on network typology and its role for IEs. Thus, the study extended the current literature on the intersection of IEs and their networking behaviours.

Despite the popularity of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) concept, research on its value-adding activities receives less attention. Thus, in this article, the authors investigate the role of EEs in supporting global value chain (GVC) activities.

The authors employ the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) technique to identify practical configurations of EE’s framework and systemic conditions spurring GVC activities in 80 countries.

The findings suggest different configurations of EE`s framework and systemic conditions necessary for various GVC activities regarding input-output structure, geographical scope, upgrading, and forward and backward participation.

This study contributes to the extant literature by pioneering the EE approach to explaining GVC development. Moreover, the findings provide novel insights for understanding the EE – GVC interplay. As a result, the study offers a more nuanced understanding of how the EE supports GVC activities.

The purpose of this article was to review the existing literature on youth entrepreneurship (YE), focusing on the context, methodological and theoretical approaches employed, alongside any emerging themes on the subject.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted, drawing on an evidence base of 77 articles identified from different databases. These articles were either published in Association of Business Schools (ABS list 2021 edition) or Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) listed journals.

The review revealed that the majority of research on the topic has been conducted in Africa, employing a quantitative methodology. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) has been the dominant theoretical lens used by scholars. The four major themes covered on the topic to date include (1) entrepreneurial motivations; (2) entrepreneurial intentions (EIs) and entrepreneurial attitudes (EAs); (3) entrepreneurial competencies, education, training, and support, and (4) innovation and technology adoption.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this SLR is the first review that addresses this fast-growing area of research. This paper incorporated insights on YE across academic disciplines. It also provided a nuanced discussion of the major themes covered in the research and suggested directions for future research.

New ventures often encounter legitimation challenges due to their liability of newness and foreignness. This particularly applies to the legitimacy beyond the local entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE). The present study examines how new ventures’ local legitimacy influences legitimacy diffusion beyond the local EEs. It considers both the direct relationship between new venture local legitimacy and its diffusion beyond the EE and the moderating effects of legitimacy brokerage and network activities on this relationship.

A hierarchical multiple linear regression is employed to test a series of hypotheses using the data of 228 Finnish firms which was collected with an online survey.

Firms that garner active local legitimacy have a greater chance to diffuse that legitimacy beyond an existing ecosystem. Results also reveal that network activities and legitimacy brokerage enhance (positively moderate) the association between (passive and active) local legitimacy and its diffusion.

The present study contributes to and extends the literature at the intersection of new venture legitimacy and legitimacy diffusion beyond the existing EE – an aspect which has not been sufficiently studied.