Does institutional void affect the development of entrepreneurial ecosystem in an emerging economy

Abstract

External environment of a firm, which can also be termed as an entrepreneurial ecosystem, may help the firm by ensuring cohesiveness among a regional community of entrepreneurs. But this cohesiveness, sometimes, becomes impossible because of the presence of the institutional void. This paper has taken an endeavour to explore the influence of institutional void on the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. In doing so, it has considered the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in general and four of its sub-dimensions. The study is based on primary data collected from 107 IT entrepreneurs of Bangladesh. The outcomes of this paper demonstrate that the institutional void influences the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Out of the five hypotheses developed in this study, four is accepted which is found to be influenced by institutional void, and 'connectivity' is found to be not influenced by institutional void. The findings of this paper have added a new dimension in the train of thought concerning the entrepreneurial ecosystem.