Hamadi I, Fifka M (2026)
Publication Type: Other publication type, posted-content
Publication year: 2026
DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.6676560
Digital entrepreneurship has developed into an omnipresent global phenomenon. Due to its increasing importance, in particular, for small businesses as major drivers of digital transition, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers are developing a growing interest in how to design ecosystems favorable to its development. While existing literature thus already provides frameworks for evaluating the quality of digital entrepreneurial ecosystems (DEEs), their applicability has not been tested so far; neither with regard to general frameworks for entrepreneurship nor with regard to specific frameworks for digital entrepreneurial ecosystems. In addition, the ecosystems of developing and emerging countries have been neglected in this research context so far.Considering these gaps, our work examines how suitable existing frameworks are to evaluate the digital ecosystems of second and third world countries. By doing so, we provide an empirical insight into the ecosystem needs of digital entrepreneurs from the respective regions. Based on an empirical study among small digital start-ups in six MENA countries, our results confirm the better fit of digital frameworks in comparison to general entrepreneurial ones, the hazard of a regionally biased methodology and indicate the potential of regional framework adaptations.
APA:
Hamadi, I., & Fifka, M. (2026). The applicability of current frameworks for digital entrepreneurial ecosystems in developing and emerging economies.
MLA:
Hamadi, Iman, and Matthias Fifka. The applicability of current frameworks for digital entrepreneurial ecosystems in developing and emerging economies. 2026.
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