CALL FOR PAPERS
Special Issue of Small Business Economics: An Entrepreneurship Journal
“The Governance of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems”
 
Guest Editors: Massimo G. Colombo, Giovanni Battista Dagnino, Erik E. Lehmann & Mari-Paz Salmador

Research questions
The special issue of Small Business Economics intends to enlarge and thicken our understanding of both the theoretical and practical developments directly associated with entrepreneurial ecosystems governance models and their evolutionary paths as small entrepreneurial agglomerations become large and established. The title “The Governance of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems” intends to underscore the significance of two closely related themes: (1) connecting developments in entrepreneurial ecosystems to the current discourse about governance, and (2) developing new frameworks and models of entrepreneurial ecosystems governance processes, mechanisms, relationships, and practices.
 
Topics of this special issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The integration of entrepreneurial ecosystems and governance thinking;
• Critical junctures in the evolution of the governance of entrepreneurial ecosystems and the role of inertial forces;
• The governance of an entrepreneurial ecosystem and its relationships with the triple helix model;
• Spatial and dynamic issues in the governance of an entrepreneurial ecosystem;
• Governance of agglomerations of new ventures and spin-offs from existing organizations;
• The governance of academic spin-offs;
• The governance of firm incubators;
• The governance dilemmas and ecosystems transitions associated to the advent of early stage investors and sponsors of new entrepreneurship (e.g., angels, seed corn investors, and venture capitalists);
• The relationships between diverse institutional settings and ownership modes and the governance of entrepreneurial ecosystems;
• The (multiple) interactions among ecosystems governance, capabilities and performance.

 
We also encourage research submissions that use innovative research fields and conceptual lenses and/or employ new research methods in connecting entrepreneurial ecosystems and governance. Since the special issue design invites and encourages interactions among academics and practitioners (entrepreneurs and executives), we welcome submissions that show potential in sparking dialogue across the two main constituencies.

Key dates
The deadline for submission of papers to the special issue is April 30th, 2016. The publication of the special issue in Small Business Economics is expected by 2017.
 
Paper submission procedure
Submissions to the special issue should be sent electronically to all the guest editors at the email indicated above by April 30th, 2016. All submissions will be subject to the standard review process followed by Small Business Economics: An Entrepreneurship Journal. All manuscripts must be original, unpublished works that are not concurrently under review for publication elsewhere. All submissions should conform to the SBEJ manuscript submission guidelines available at http://www.springer.com/business+%26+management/business+for+professionals/journal/11187.
Authors who are invited to revise their submission to the special issue after the first round of reviews are also invited to present their revised papers at a special issue paper development workshop that will be held at the University of Catania.