The digital entrepreneurship ecosystem index: concept and measurement

Digitalization is profoundly reshaping the nature, scope and geography of entrepreneurship. In this study, the authors develop the concept of the digital entrepreneurship ecosystem (DEE) as a systemic framework to understand entrepreneurship in the digital age. Building on and extending prior work by Sussan and Acs (2017) and Song (2019), the authors provide a theoretical synthesis that integrates entrepreneurial ecosystem thinking with the logic of digital platforms, user participation and multiagency entrepreneurship. On this foundation, the authors construct a composite index – the DEE Index – covering 170 countries from 2017 to 2022. The index includes twelve pillars organized into four sub-indices: digital technology infrastructure, digital user citizenship, digital multisided platforms and digital technology entrepreneurship. Methodologically, the authors introduce a novel approach combining systemic interaction modeling, pooled normalization and a penalty for bottlenecks to account for structural weaknesses in ecosystems. The result is a multidimensional framework that offers rich insights for scholars and policymakers on the enabling conditions and constraints for digital entrepreneurship across different regions.