Connecting entrepreneurial ecosystem and innovation. Grasping at straws or hitting a home run?

Why do some regions continuously exhibit productive entrepreneurship while others stagnate? The entrepreneurial ecosystem and innovation are buzzwords within academic research, representing the cultural, economic, social, and political environment supporting productive entrepreneurship. Scholars have examined the linkage between ecosystems and innovation in the past few years, and there is an agreement that the interaction of entrepreneurial actors, institutions, and cultures facilitates new venture development and productive entrepreneurship. However, despite burgeoning research, the entrepreneurial ecosystem still represents a metaphor lacking clarity. There is little agreement on the causal mechanisms driving the entrepreneurial ecosystem and innovation outcomes as the research at the current stage involves diverse views and is currently fragmented. We present a review of ninety-eight articles to synthesize existing research evidence on entrepreneurial ecosystems by identifying the ecosystem aspects maximizing innovative capacity. The content analysis reveals three predominant themes: (1) the role of universities, (2) the role of entrepreneurial actors, and (3) innovation as an outcome of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The findings highlight scholarly attention on the interactions between elements of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and reveal the crucial role of entrepreneurial actors as drivers of innovation. We contribute to the prior research by offering an overview of predominant themes and proposing a conceptual framework. Shedding light on the intersection between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and innovation is a potential pathway for future ecosystem research.