Symposium

Some questions in entrepreneurial ecosystem policy cannot be answered in a single session. Whether a support programme works, or why some regions grow startups and others do not, needs several studies from different angles, read side by side.

Academic work also improves when it is tested by people who know the field from policy and practice, and policy improves when it is built on that work.

IFEED symposia give one research theme the time and the scrutiny it needs, with papers, responses and discussion over a full day.

About

Each IFEED symposium examines one theme of entrepreneurial ecosystem research in depth. The theme is set in advance, and researchers are invited to submit papers on it.

Themes are chosen for their importance to policy, such as the effects of public support on startup growth, the scale-up of born-global startups or the role of universities in regional ecosystems.

Each paper is followed by a response from a discussant and an open discussion, in which officials and practitioners join the researchers. Papers are shared with participants in advance, so that the discussion can start from the evidence.

Aims

• Depth. Examine one research theme at a time, through several papers read side by side, using different methods and evidence from different countries.
• Scholarship. Give each paper a discussant and an open discussion, to the standard of an academic meeting, so that findings are tested before they are used.
• Exchange. Open academic work to officials and practitioners, and bring their questions about programmes, budgets and delivery back into research.

Duration

One day, held once a year.