• Introduction to Beyond4.0 project • Case studies entrepreneurial ecosystems Beyond4.0 • Knowledge spillovers • Discussion

1. Knowledge Spillovers in the Entrepreneurial
Ecosystems of the Beyond4.0 project
Steven Dhondt, TNO/KU Leuven
Mirella Schrijvers, University Utrecht
UU – Winter School
Utrecht/Online February 2nd 2022
@Transform_H2020

2. Programme
@Transform_H2020
• Introduction Beyond4.0 project
• Case studies entrepreneurial ecosystems Beyond4.0
• Knowledge spillovers
• Discussion
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

3. H2020 Beyond4.0 in a nutshell
Steven Dhondt
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

4. Introduction:
Integrating the Beyond 4.0 results
Social support systems
Technology as an opportunity
Public
intervention
The augmented worker
Entrepreneurial behaviour in
symbiotic ecosystems
Platforms as a risk
UBI as a dead end
Substitution
Parasitic
ecosystems
Fixing and tinkering
Market shaping
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

5. Introduction:
Focus today: knowledge spillovers
Technology as an opportunity
The augmented worker
Entrepreneurial behaviour in
symbiotic ecosystems
Platforms as a risk
Substitution
Parasitic
ecosystems
Incumbent ecosystems
Emerging ecosystems
Knowledge spillovers
Inclusive and
productive outcomes
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

6. OULU - TELECOMMUNICATIONS
BRAINPORT – ADVANCEDMANUFACTURING
DÜSSELDORF - STEEL
SOFIA - ICT
SALO – MOBILE PHONES / BATTERIES
WEST MIDLANDS – AUTOMOTIVE
BASQUE COUNTRY – MACHINETOOL
Introduction: The regional perspective
Incumbent entrepreneurial ecosystems
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

7. OULU - TELECOMMUNICATIONS
BRAINPORT – ADVANCEDMANUFACTURING
DÜSSELDORF - STEEL
SOFIA - ICT
SALO – MOBILE PHONES / BATTERIES
WEST MIDLANDS – AUTOMOTIVE
BASQUE COUNTRY – MACHINETOOL
Introduction: The regional perspective
Emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems
Oulu – Digital Health
WM – Digital Health
Basque Country – Smart Mobility
Sofia - BPO
Dortmund – Logistics
Woensdrecht – Aerospace
Salo – Car batteries
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

8. Introduction: technology logics and
incumbent EEs 2008-2020?
SUBSTITUTION PATH
AUGMENTATION PATH
OULU - TELECOMMUNICATIONS
BRAINPORT – ADVANCED
MANUFACTURING
DÜSSELDORF - STEEL
SOFIA - ICT
WEST MIDLANDS – AUTOMOTIVE
SALO – MOBILE PHONES / BATTERIES
BASQUE COUNTRY – MACHINE TOOL
INTEGRATED EFFORT
DISPERSED EFFORT
+10%
-17%
+78%
-36%
+23%
-8%
Digital technology
drives growth.
Old technology
combined with
digital, ‘eats
employment’.
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

9. Entrepreneurial ecosystems and structural
change
Based on the chapter by Schrijvers, Bosma and Stam (2022) in
Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Cities and Regions, ed. R. Huggins, Oxford
University Press

10. Introduction
• Why is it relevant to study structural change?
• Why these regions?
• What is the relation between entrepreneurship and structural
change?
• Quantitative + qualitative approach
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

11. Theoretical background
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

12. Regional diversity
• No one size fits all (Schrijvers et al., 2021)
• High (top 25%) Crunchbase output can be reached with variety
of configurations
• Regional ecosystems with unicorns not all alike
• But best (top 10%) ecosystems score high on all elements
• Regions can adapt to local circumstances to some extent
• Top performance requires an allround ecosystem
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

13. Solutions for highest
25% Crunchbase
output
(Schrijvers, et al.
2021)
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

14. Configurations (2)
• Highest output->all elements on high level
• What happens when we zoom in on specific regions?
• Regions which have a strong industrial base and were hit by
severe economic shocks in the last twenty years
• Need to structurally transform the economy towards more
knowledge-based activities
• Similar experience of declining industries but variety of outcomes
• Look at six of the Beyond 4.0 regions
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

15. Case study regions (from Beyond 4.0)
City region NUTS 2 region NUTS 2
code
Ranking
EEI*
Ranking
entrepreneurship
output*
Sofia Yugozapaden BG41 220 34
Dusseldorf Dusseldorf DEA1 84 125
Basque
Country
Basque Country ES21 82 78
Eindhoven Noord-Brabant NL41 23 54
Oulu Northern
Osthrobrothnia
FI1D 77 63
West
Midlands
West Midlands UKG3 36 64
*out of 273 European NUTS 2 regions; EEI=entrepreneurial ecosystem index;
source: Leendertse et al. (2021)
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

16. Quantitative analysis
0.04
1.03
0.44
2.41
4.80
0.93
0.14
1.30
0.58
1.99
1.12
2.33
0.17
0.29
0.70
0.78
1.08
2.94
0.21
2.39
0.58
0.30
3.13
2.37
0.29
1.27
1.03
1.33
1.69
1.09
0.26
0.23
4.63
0.59
0.65
2.20
0.18
0.48
1.19
2.92
1.33
1.29
0.41
0.51
0.59
1.04
1.26
0.57
0.32
3.37
1.06
0.05
1.93
1.54
1.05
0.44
0.57
0.40
1.48
0.82
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BG41
DEA1
ES21
FI1D
NL41
UKG3
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3
4
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

17. Quantitative analysis (2)
0
1
2
3
4
5
0 10 20 30
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Index Additive
Crunchbase
Output
NUTS 2 region
BG41
DEA1
ES21
FI1D
NL41
UKG3
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

18. Emerging questions
• Sofia
• Düsseldorf
• Oulu
• Mismatch EEI and entrepreneurship output
• Can descriptions from case studies provide answers?
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

19. Sofia, Bulgaria
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

20. Sofia – regional background
• Started producing computers in Communist era
• After opening of economy many foreign companies outsourced to
Bulgaria
• Focus on international market, cheap labor, subsidiaries of
multinationals
• IT sector is developing. More domestic companies, and more skill
intensive.
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

21. Sofia - ecosystem
• Weak entrepreneurial ecosystem
• Institutions are weak but seems to be some progress
• Support from EU
• Entrepreneurs try to fill in gaps in ecosystem, e.g. education
• Focus on international market
• Restricted to one strong sector
• How to create broader economic progress?
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

22. Düsseldorf, Germany
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

23. Düsseldorf
• Located in Ruhr area
• Strong traditional industry base: mining, steel, chemicals
• Very good infrastructure
• Large local demand (densely populated)
• Steel industry still very dominant
• Prevented structural transformation
• Hard to make these areas attractive to highly skilled people -> lack of
talent and knowledge
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

24. Oulu, Finland
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

25. Oulu
• Unique conditions, northern Finland
• Sparsely populated, not well connected
• Rise and fall of Nokia
• Entrepreneurial recycling
• Strong culture, people stayed in region
• University is an important actor in the ecosystem
• Local institutional actors planned ahead (e.g. BusinessOulu)
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

26. Discussion
• Strong entrepreneurial ecosystem helps to adjust to economic shocks
• Institutions very important
• Can provide leadership and investment
• Vested interests can hinder transformation
• Regional descriptions provide more insight than just data
• Shows a high EEI score does not always mean high entrepreneurship
• Data restricted to specific time frame and indicators
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

27. Conclusion
• Strong entrepreneurial ecosystem enables structural change
• Institutions, knowledge and skilled labor especially important
• Strong EE does not guarantee a successful transformation
• Quantitative data needs to be combined with case knowledge
• Regional context and history matters
• Explains variety of configurations we observe
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

28. Discussion questions
• Are metrics still useful?
• How can policymakers use quantitative/qualitative data?
• Experiences with other regions?
• Do you recognize certain configurations?
• Things that are missing in the quantitative data?
• Future research
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

29. Knowledge spillovers in entrepreneurial
ecosystems
Steven Dhondt
Input for report on entrepreneurial ecosystems in Beyond4.0
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

30. Knowledge spillovers
• Stam-model focuses on Capital, Labour and Knowledge.
Operationalised in ten conditions that help to describe strengths and
weaknesses of regions/ecosystems.
• Model delivers macro-perspective on what has happened.
• Can we distinguish differences in knowledge spillovers?
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

31. Entrepreneurial EcosystemElements
Outcomes
Outputs
Systemic
conditions
Framework
conditions
Aggregate Value Creation
EntrepreneurialActivity
Networks Leadership Finance Talent Knowledge
Support services /
intermediairies
Formal
institutions
Culture Physical infrastructure Demand
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

32. Entrepreneurial EcosystemElements
Outcomes
Outputs
Systemic
conditions
Framework
conditions
Aggregate Value Creation
Entrepreneurial Activity
Networks Leadership
Finance
Talent Knowledge
Support services /
intermediairies
Formal
institutions
Culture Physicalinfrastructure Demand
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

33. Entrepreneurial EcosystemElements
Outcomes
Outputs
Systemic
conditions
Framework
conditions
Inclusive growth
Entrepreneurial Activity
Networks Leadership
Finance
Talent Knowledge
Support services /
intermediairies
Formal
institutions
Culture Physicalinfrastructure Demand
Aggregate Value Creation
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

34. Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Elements
Education
Business
Public
stakeholders
Formal
institutions
Culture
Physical infrastructure Demand
Finance
Talent Knowledge
Networks
Leadership
Support services
/ intermediairies
Digital
transformation
Outcomes
Outputs
Systemic
conditions
Framework
conditions
Aggregate Value Creation
Entrepreneurial Activity / Inclusive Actions
Inclusive growth
4
1 3
2
5
6
6
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

35. Education
Business
Public
stakeholders
Networks
Leadership
Support services
/ intermediairies
1 3
2
Internships
Patents
Co-publications
Labour market
measures
Support systems
Digital transformation
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

36. The debate: knowledge driven
enterpreneurship and ‘spillovers’
• Spillovers from major companies to start-ups
• Cuvero et al. (2019): taxonomy
• Not that much attention:
• Lead company to suppliers
• Knowledge providers to companies (Romer, 1986; 1994; Audretsch, 1995)
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

37. Education/schools/knowledge providers – companies
• Public, private co-publications (RIS) This indicator from the RIS captures public-private research linkages and active collaboration activities between business sector
researchers and public sector researchers, resulting in academic publications. The indicator is measured as the public-private co-
publications per million population.
• Internships, apprenticeships This is a traditional mechanism in which new talent is integrated into the companies. In addition, companies connect with the school
system and can develop networks with the schools to keep their training infrastructure up to date.
• Major programmes Knowledge providers such as RTOs can conduct major innovation programmes that lead to PPPs (García-Estévez et al., 2020).
Companies – companies (Scarrà & Piccaluga, 2020)
• Business ecosystems, business supply chains Companies' supply chain provides a knowledge transfer from the focal (flagship) company to the suppliers. The knowledge transfer may
also be the reverse. It may also be that ecosystems learn from one another. Flagship enterprises have positive impacts on start-up rates
(Anokhin et al., 2021)
• Take-over of personnel Personnel can move from one company to another and secure knowledge improvements at the receiving company.
• Knowledge sharing through business
networks
Several different types of business networks may be active in regions. They can vary from service clubs to sectoral associations to more
directed meetings between (top) managers.
Major fairs or exhibitions allow knowledge spillovers.
• Life-long learning (RIS) The RIS measures life-long learning as all purposeful learning activities, whether formal, non-formal or informal, undertaken on an
ongoing basis to improve knowledge, skills, and competence. The intention or aim to learn is the critical point that distinguishes these
activities from non-learning activities, such as cultural or sporting activities. It can work as a spillover mechanism in combination with
mobility, keeping knowledge updated in companies. The RIS measures lifelong learning as the share of the population aged 25-64
enrolled in education or training aimed at improving knowledge, skills and competencies.
• Innovative SMEs collaborating with others The RIS measures the degree to which SMEs are involved in innovation cooperation. Complex innovations often depend on enterprises’
ability to draw on diverse sources of information and knowledge or collaborate on the development of an innovation. This indicator
measures the flow of knowledge between public research institutions, enterprises, and other enterprises. The precise measure is the
innovative SMEs collaborating with others as a percentage of SMEs (Audretsch, Belitski, Caiazza, 2021).
Public stakeholders – companies
• Labour market measures The (local) labour market agencies may be active to direct labour to companies. This is not directly knowledge support but labour input.
However, support may be directed to improve knowledge and information in the region.
• Business support networks An important mechanism to secure connection between companies is the activity of a local Chamber of Commerce or any other business
support system. It is important to understand how active these are and what they are able to achieve. The mere existence is not
sufficient to support knowledge exchange (Audretsch & Link, 2019).
• Funding opportunities, incubators Public authorities can support any of the described knowledge transfer mechanisms. Of course, direct financial support (if allowed) can
be helpful, but this is capital transfer rather than knowledge spillover. In addition, public authorities can create incubator systems to
support start-ups.
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

38. Q1: Do leading companies like to share?
Home country
Only Europe
Outside Europe
73
174
With CORE-companyin the lead. With CORE-companyas co-author.
Local
87
Home country
Only Europe
Outside Europe
284
222
976
Core
Core
Local
169
37
26
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project
50 start-ups and scale-ups
Source: SCOPUS

39. Advanced
manufacturer
Advanced
manufacturer
supplier
[capacity]
Advanced
manufacturer
ICT-delivery
Q2: Spillovers in the supply chain?
Type
co-author 1990-1999 2000-2009 2010-2019 2020+
CORE-NL CORE 56% 47% 30% 28%
INTERNAL 0% 2% 4% 2%
PUBLIC_AUT 0% 0% 0% 0%
RESEARCH 28% 23% 49% 58%
SUPPLIER 17% 28% 17% 12%
Supplier-NL1 CORE 25% 0%
RESEARCH 50% 100%
SUPPLIER 25% 0%
Supplier-NL2 CORE 58% 43% 11%
RESEARCH 42% 52% 89%
SUPPLIER 0% 4% 0%
Supplier-NL3 CORE 0% 3% 0%
INTERNAL 0% 28% 21%
PUBLIC_AUT 0% 3% 0%
RESEARCH 100% 56% 79%
SUPPLIER 0% 11% 0%
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project
Source: SCOPUS

40. Q3: Knowledge spillovers and digitalisation
• Proeger/Runst (2021): “Economies unable to absorb radical digital innovations and
implement them within their specific fabric of incumbent firms will fail to reap the
economic benefits and ultimately loose competitiveness.”
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
1990-1999 2000-2009 2010-2014 2015-2019 2020+
CORE-NL region (7 companies): share of
publications on digital, machine learning or
artificial intelligence
Source: SCOPUS
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

41. Q4: Can we describe and assess an ecosystem?
Source: SCOPUS
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project
Universities
Business
Public
stakeholders
Start-up
Scale-up
Suppliers BP
CORE
Brainport
Co-publicationeffort
EU funding
0,5%
Research
institutes
35%
11%
2%
0,1%
43%
National
(science)
funding
Company
CORE
funding
Universities
Research
institutes
Public
authorities
Unknown
85% 112 162 157 94 57 ?
6156 authors
Suppliers
20%
15%

42. Future research
• Comparing the different types of ecosystems
• Understanding the entrepreneurial outcomes: start-ups, scale-ups
• Inclusive outcomes
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

43. Thank you!
DISCUSSION
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project

44. REFERENCES
Cuvero, M., Evans, R.D., Granados, M., & Pilkington, A. (2019) A taxonomy of knowledge spillovers for high-tech start-ups development 2019 IEEE Technology and Engineering
Management Conference, TEMSCON 2019, art. no. 8813606. DOI: 10.1109/TEMSCON.2019.8813606
Proeger, T., & Runst, P. (2020) Digitization and Knowledge Spillover Effectiveness—Evidence from the “German Mittelstand” Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 11 (4), pp.
1509-1528. DOI: 10.1007/s13132-019-00622-3
UU Winter School - Entrepreneurial ecosystems in H2020
Beyond4.0 project