Abstract:

Innovation hubs are widely promoted as engines of entrepreneurial growth, yet empirical evidence regarding their effectiveness remains mixed. We argue that this inconsistency stems from treating hubs as bundles of support services rather than as coordination infrastructures that reorganize the relational and institutional architecture of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Drawing on socio technical systems theory, we conceptualize hub initiatives as spatial interventions whose performance effects depend on cross subsystem alignment. We hypothesize that hubs influence start up growth indirectly by reshaping relational topology, captured through network ties, and institutional boundary conditions, captured through perceived institutional constraints. We test this model using a two-wave panel survey of 449 start-ups affiliated with innovation hubs in Ghana, with growth measured two years after the assessment of hub initiatives and mediators. Partial least squares structural equation modelling results indicate no significant direct effect of hub initiatives on growth. Instead, their influence is fully mediated by intensified network ties and reduced institutional constraints, both of which independently predict start up growth. These findings make two contributions. First, we offer a bounded extension of STS scholarship by empirically demonstrating that socio-technical alignment operates at the ecosystem level through spatially structured relational and institutional mechanisms rather than within single organizations. Second, we advance research on entrepreneurial ecosystems and innovation hubs by identifying the coordination mechanisms (relational densification and institutional permeability) through which spatial interventions generate heterogeneous performance outcomes. By shifting the explanation of hub effectiveness from resource provision to systemic alignment, the study clarifies when and how innovation spaces translate into sustained start-up growth.

Please choose your submission type: Full Paper

Primary Track: African Studies

Keywords: Entrepreneurial process & other spatial/temporal issues on African entrepreneurship.

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Dr. Joseph Amoah

Biography