Are entrepreneurial ecosystems measurable? What the literature says about moving forward

The significant research on entrepreneurial ecosystems thus far lacks quantitative metrics for measuring and comparing entrepreneurial ecosystems. This chapter reviews the quantitative entrepreneurial ecosystem research published in high-ranking journals, seeking to explore research trends, themes and metrics, while leveraging the insights to suggest an agenda for future research. The authors developed a systematic literature review with descriptive and bibliometric analyses of a strict elite sample. The results enabled the identification of the evolution of scientific production and the categorization of the prevailing themes and metrics applied by scholars. The insights are leveraged to bridge prevailing research themes, draw attention to macro-level research topics and suggest promising paths forward that can guide researchers not only in developing robust quantitative entrepreneurial ecosystem studies, but also in further developing (conceptual or qualitative) studies on entrepreneurial ecosystems and related fields of research.