How Universities’ Dynamics and Initiatives Are Related to Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Universities are increasingly being pressured to perform their third mission, playing as a catalyst of technological change, innovation, and societal and economic development. Universities respond to the emerging challenges combining their traditional roles with an entrepreneurial agenda. This entrepreneurial academic spirit allows a collaboration, as equal partners, with government and industry, creating the conditions for innovation and the emergence of the Entrepreneurial University (Ent_Uni). This scenario is crucial to address how universities’ dynamics and initiatives are related to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems (Ent_Eco). Despite being widely explored concepts, the Ent_Uni and Ent_Eco are still fragmented and muddled in the literature, holding a wide margin for theorization development. Based on the bibliographic coupling of document references performed in Bibliometrix, a spectrum of six main research topics was identified to understand the dynamics of the Ent_Uni and Ent_Eco concepts. Lastly, we offer a future research agenda that could deepen the scientific knowledge on entrepreneurial settings.