WHAT IS GOING ON RECENTLY IN THE INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM FIELD? A BIBLIOMETRIC AND CONTENT-BASED ANALYSIS

Abstract

Purpose: The popularisation of studies on ecosystem occurred, fundamentally, after the work of Adner (2006) and began to gain theoretical strength after the study by Gomes et al. (2018a), who identified a turning point between the concepts of business ecosystems and innovation ecosystems (IE) analysing studies from 1993 to 2016. The objective of this study is to present the characteristics, trends, and current research avenues of the concept post-transition, especially in the period from 2017 to 2019, during which more publications were produced than in the first 24 years. Design/methodology/approach: Using data from the Web of Science, we performed a systematic literature review, through bibliometric ([Formula: see text] = 153 studies) and content analysis ([Formula: see text] = 15 studies). Data were analysed through bibliometrix (a R-tool package) and reading of the studies selected. Findings: Our study revealed some new research suggestions linked to actors, infrastructure and financial capital for innovation; public policy, social capital, and development; IE Governance; and IE limits. Research limitation/implications: One limitation of our study is the fact that it only used the Web of Science database. Originality/value: Even though the literature on IE is extensive, no studies have captured the recent trends on this topic. These trends can be useful for ‘new avenues’ in IE research. The findings also can be important to clarify the concept of IE.