Journal of Technology Development Management

Journal of Technology Development Management

Identifying the Conceptual Framework of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (The Case of Sharif University of Technology)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
1 Entrepreneurship Development Department, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran
2 Adjunct professor of the faculty of the Faculty of Management, University of Tehran
3 Second Master's student in Germany
10.22104/jtdm.2026.7211.3375
Abstract
The entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective has become an influential approach to entrepreneurship development, assigning universities a central role in knowledge creation, transfer, and commercialization. However, existing studies mainly emphasize ecosystem actors and internal components while paying limited attention to interactions across macro and international levels. This study develops a multi-level conceptual framework for the university entrepreneurial ecosystem by integrating theoretical literature with qualitative evidence from Sharif University of Technology. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 17 entrepreneurs and experts using purposive and snowball sampling and analyzed through three-stage coding. The findings propose a co-evolutionary framework that explains structural relationships among four interconnected levels: international, macro, meso, and micro. Rather than merely identifying ecosystem components, the framework illustrates how dynamic interactions among policies, institutions, intermediary organizations, and entrepreneurial actors shape ecosystem development through continuous feedback mechanisms. The study further highlights the influence of public policies, institutional quality, international scientific collaboration, knowledge flows, brain drain, and economic sanctions alongside university-level factors. Its principal contribution is the development of a theoretically integrated and empirically validated multi-level framework that extends existing ecosystem research and provides a practical foundation for analyzing and designing university entrepreneurship policies in Iran and comparable contexts.
Keywords
Subjects

  • Receive Date 30 November 2024
  • Revise Date 24 July 2026
  • Accept Date 25 July 2026