Ioana Stefan, Mälardalen University

Ikenna Uzuegbunam, Howard University

Brett Anitra Gilbert, American University

Wim Vanhaverbeke, Antwerp University

Kadigia Faccin, Fundação Dom Cabral

Yanbo Wang, University of Hong Kong

This special issue addresses entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging economies, where new ventures face distinctive obstacles including institutional weakness, high uncertainty, and limited market access. While research on entrepreneurial ecosystems has expanded significantly, most studies focus on developed nations, leaving a knowledge gap about how these ecosystems function in the Global South and other emerging regions.

The call welcomes research that balances Global North and Global South perspectives, examines ecosystem emergence and development over time, applies systems thinking, and investigates how digitalization shapes entrepreneurial activity in resource-constrained contexts. Contributors are encouraged to explore how entrepreneurial ecosystems address institutional voids, support different types of entrepreneurs, and contribute to sustainable development goals.

Appel publié par Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. Voir l'appel sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

• EE emergence and development in emerging economies
• EE dynamics and evolution
• EE orchestration, governance and brokering
• Digital affordances and digitalization
• EE metrics and measures
• Valley of Death gaps
• Institutional and infrastructure challenges
• Resource constraints in emerging economies
• EE lifecycle and temporality
• Multi-level analysis of ecosystems
• Systems perspective on EE
• Sustainability and resilience of EE
• Policy effectiveness for EE support
• Global North and Global South perspectives
• Refugee and diaspora entrepreneurship
• Venture funding instruments and diaspora remittances
• Circular economy and EE
• Regenerative business practices
• Social impact and vulnerable communities
• Digital technology effects on EE
• Computer science methods for ecosystem analysis
• Geography of entrepreneurship

Timeline

• January 30, 2027: Submission window opens
• April 30, 2027: Full paper submission deadline

Associate editors

• David Sirmon, University of Washington

Bruno Fischer, University of Campinas

Aki Harima, Tallinn University of Technology

Sophia Behr, University of Stuttgart

Philip T. Roundy, University of Tennessee Chattanooga

Erik Stam, Utrecht University

Maribel Guerrero, Arizona State University

This special issue examines leadership within entrepreneurial ecosystems as a central yet underexplored phenomenon shaping ecosystem dynamics and outcomes. Rather than treating leadership as a residual category of individual actors or positions, the issue conceptualizes it as a relational process through which direction develops, priorities are negotiated, support is mobilized, and ecosystem development is influenced. The focus spans stable, transforming, and crisis-affected ecosystems, recognizing that contexts such as digitalization, sustainability transitions, and geopolitical disruptions shape how leadership emerges and evolves.

The special issue seeks to move beyond describing static ecosystem structures toward explaining how collective action is generated, coordinated, and sustained over time. It welcomes diverse theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches that develop, challenge, extend, or offer alternative conceptualizations of EE leadership. Research should address who assumes leadership roles, how legitimacy and followership emerge, and how different leadership configurations can compensate for weaknesses in networks, resources, or institutions.

Appel publié par Entrepreneurship & Regional Development. Voir l'appel sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

• Conceptualization and theory of entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) leadership across formal, informal, individual, collective, organizational, distributed, relational, and processual perspectives
• Dimensions and manifestations of EE leadership (e.g., public, entrepreneurial, community)
• Interaction between EE leadership and other ecosystem elements such as networks, institutions, finance, or culture
• Contextual uniqueness shaping forms and theorization of EE leadership across different institutional, cultural, and geographical settings
• Elements of EE leadership affecting how entrepreneurs and supportive agents cohere around shared norms, values, and goals
• Relational characteristics (e.g., coordination, collaboration, communication) supporting effective ecosystem leadership
• Participation, legitimacy, and authority emergence in EE leadership processes
• How characteristics of ecosystem actors (lived experience, place attachment, prosocial orientation, identity) shape participation in ecosystem leadership
• Activities, practices, and processes constituting ecosystem leadership and their collective goals
• Distribution of leadership activities across ecosystem actors and how interactions shape collective direction and coordinated action
• Forms of leadership and agency emergence, evolution, and enabling coordinated action within EEs
• Evolution of ecosystem leadership across phases of development and consequences of different forms
• Conditions under which leadership can compensate for weaknesses in other ecosystem elements
• Differences in EE leadership across unstable, transforming, and crisis-affected contexts
• Direction provision under sustainability pressures, digital transformation, geopolitical tension, or resource disruption
• Negotiation of competing priorities through EE leadership during simultaneous disruptions
• Measurement and integration of EE leadership activities, practices, and relational processes into existing ecosystem measurement frameworks
• Use of network metrics to assess distribution of participation, influence, and coordination within EE leadership processes
• Measures capturing whether EE leadership is concentrated or distributed, formal or informal, and how these configurations change over time

Timeline

• December 14, 2026: Online information and early-ideas session for scholars interested in contributing to the special issue
• February 11, 2027: Paper development workshop within the conference Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Times of Rapid Transformation in Tallinn, Estonia
• December 31, 2027: Manuscript submission deadline

Shawna Chen, Brock University

Michael Lounsbury, University of Alberta

Chris Zhang, University of Houston Downtown

While entrepreneurship research has increasingly recognized identity as central to entrepreneurial processes, 2SLGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs remain significantly underexplored in the core literature, particularly regarding how sexuality and gender identity interact with entrepreneurial ecosystems and institutional structures. This special issue aims to advance conceptual, empirical, and methodological understanding of 2SLGBTQIA+ entrepreneurship by examining how these entrepreneurs navigate visibility, stigma, belonging, and legitimacy within broader institutional and spatial contexts.

The special issue welcomes diverse theoretical and methodological approaches, including identity theory, queer-feminist perspectives, intersectionality, institutional theory, and institutional logics. Submissions may employ qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methodologies and are encouraged to bridge theory and practice by including diverse scholarly teams with practitioners involved in entrepreneurship.

Appel publié par Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship. Lire l'appel complet sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

• LGBTQ+ identity and entrepreneurial identity work
• Coming out, concealment, and impression management in venture contexts
• Intersectionality (e.g., race, gender, class, disability) and layered entrepreneurial experiences
• Institutional barriers to legitimacy, funding, and recognition
• Emancipatory entrepreneurship: removing structural constraints through business creation
• Entrepreneurial ecosystems and their (in)capacity to support LGBTQ+ inclusion
• Policy and programmatic responses to LGBTQ+ small business development
• Entrepreneurial wellbeing, belonging, and non-economic goals
• Comparative studies of LGBTQ+ entrepreneurship across national and regional contexts
• Methodological approaches for studying LGBTQ+ and equity-deserving entrepreneurs

Timeline

• November 1, 2025: Opening date for manuscript submissions
• October 31, 2026: Closing date for manuscript submission
• April 1, 2027: Expected publication date

Nafisa Yeasmin, University of Oulu

Anisur Faroque, University of Vaasa

Mohammad Osman Gani, University Canada West

Waliul Hasanat, University of Lapland

Hiran Roy, Canadian University

Arctic and remote peripheral regions face demographic decline and labour shortages alongside emerging economic opportunities. Immigrant entrepreneurs play a vital role in sustaining these communities through ventures in tourism, food, logistics, and digital services, yet this phenomenon remains understudied in mainstream entrepreneurship research focused on metropolitan areas.

This special issue examines how immigrant entrepreneurs develop ventures in sparse, geographically isolated, and institutionally thin environments where they navigate regulatory complexity and fragmented support systems. The issue integrates perspectives from entrepreneurship, migration studies, regional development, and sustainability to generate new theoretical insights into entrepreneurial ecosystems in peripheral and extreme contexts.

The special issue welcomes empirical, conceptual, comparative, and policy-oriented contributions exploring how immigrant enterprises mobilize resources, adapt to uncertainty, and shape Arctic and global peripheries. It seeks to expand understanding of entrepreneurial opportunity creation, resilience strategies, and the role of digitalization in these distinctive contexts.

Appel publié par Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship. Voir l'appel sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

• Entrepreneurial experiences in extreme environments
• Identifying opportunities in sparse, remote contexts
• Seasonal, climatic and infrastructure constraints on entrepreneurship
• Hybrid identities, transnational strategies and placemaking
• Indigenous and migrant cooperation and governance
• Local development agencies and support structures in remote areas
• Impacts of regulatory and migration policies on entrepreneurship
• Migrant enterprises in rural revitalization
• Circular economy models and sustainable business practices
• Tourism, food systems and creative industries in peripheries
• Digital entrepreneurship in the Arctic
• Remote work and hybrid business models
• E-commerce ecosystems in remote areas
• Arctic comparative studies and comparative perspectives from other global peripheries
• Entrepreneurial ecosystems in thin markets and institutionally thin environments
• Mixed embeddedness theory in Arctic contexts
• Peripherality, rurality, spatiality and mobility
• Micro-resilience and sustainable entrepreneurship
• Resource mobilisation and opportunity creation under spatial and institutional constraints
• Demographic renewal and regional sustainability through immigrant ventures

Timeline

• August 1, 2026: Abstract submission deadline
• February 28, 2027: Manuscript submission deadline

Christina Theodoraki, IAE Aix-Marseille Université

Lynda Saoudi, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1

Mathilde Aubry, EM Normandie

Jean-Michel Sahut, IDRAC Business School

Appel publié par Revue internationale P M E Économie et gestion de la petite et moyenne entreprise. Voir l'appel sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

• Digitization of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs): Impact of digital transformation on EEs, new relationships and governance possibilities within entrepreneurial ecosystems
• Relationships between ecosystems: Infra/international cooperation and coopetition
• Digital challenges for entrepreneurial ecosystem actors: incubators, accelerators, financial actors, SMEs, etc.
• Consequences of digitization: dehumanization, environmental impact, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), inequalities (gender, emerging countries)
• Behavior and strategy of stakeholders in Digital Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (DEEs): impacts on startups and SMEs
• Relational approaches within DEEs: network structures between EEs and entrepreneurs, intra and inter DEEs
• Inclusion and openness to social, territorial, gender and ethnocultural diversity through DEE development
• Boundaries between EEs and DEEs for entrepreneurial stimulation
• Conceptual proximity and diversity, overlaps between concepts? Substitution and/or complementarity?
• Public policy issues, entrepreneurial processes and innovation practices in the context of DEEs
• Economic models and digital transformation for SMEs and EEs
• Interactions between digital platforms and EEs
• Ecosystem for supporting entrepreneurs and SMEs in their digital transformation
• Digital maturity of companies and entrepreneurial ecosystems in digital transformation

Timeline

• February 1, 2020: Submission of complete articles conforming to journal standards on the RIPME digital platform
• October 22, 2024: Presentation of the call for papers at the CIFEPME conference
• March 15, 2025: Decision on rejection or send for evaluation
• May 20, 2025: First evaluation decision transmitted to authors
• September 20, 2025: Return of second version and send for evaluation if necessary
• October 1, 2025: Decision transmitted to authors
• December 20, 2025: Return of third version and final evaluation by editorial committee
• February 20, 2026: Reception of final versions