Entrepreneurial ecosystems have emerged as a new approach for policymaking and academic research into the role of context and systemic influences on entrepreneurship.

Staff

• Dr Paul Lassalle
• Dr Anna Spadavecchia
• Dr John Anderson

Research

Paul Lassalle

Paul Lassalle is investigating the role of geography, institutional contexts and entrepreneurial ecosystems on the entrepreneurial activities of international entrepreneurs. His research also highlights the role of entrepreneurial learning in international new ventures, examining countries including the UK, France and Malta.

Anna Spadavecchia

Anna Spadavecchia’s research interests are in the fields of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, and Innovation from a regional perspective. She has worked on various historical and contemporary facets of these topics. One facet concerns the role of national and regional policies in promoting the development of small businesses (SMEs) and clusters in Italy from 1951 to 1991. An additional angle is the impact of external economies on the innovation activity of independent inventors, SMEs and large corporations. Dr Spadavecchia has also studied the use of patents by independent inventors and corporations in their attempts to control markets in Britain and the US during the early 20^thcentury.

John Anderson

Dr John Anderson's early work in 1994 - “Local Heroes - Scotland’s Entrepreneurial Role Models” - examined the importance of identifying entrepreneurial role models and using them to help stimulate new venture creation in Scotland.

It was a key policy contribution to the work of Scottish Enterprise in the delivery of its major initiative “Improving the Business Birth Rate - Strategy for Scotland” and his research methodology for identifying entrepreneurial role models was adopted by Scottish Enterprise for their own Local Heroes publications in 1995, 1997 and 1999.

The impact of this early work was reviewed by Hunter Centre colleagues in 2002 and a paper presented at the 3^rd International Entrepreneurship Forum at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Dr Anderson was directly involved in the creation of The Entrepreneurial Exchange, a peer learning organisation for entrepreneurs in Scotland and, as Chief Executive, led it to its role in the heart of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.