Digital social entrepreneurship: the N-Helix response to stakeholders’ COVID-19 needs

• Published in: The Journal of technology transfer Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 556 - 579
• Main Authors: Ibáñez, María J., Guerrero, Maribel, Yáñez-Valdés, Claudia, Barros-Celume, Sebastián
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.04.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Business Administration; Business and Management; Commercial Law; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 pandemic; Digital social entrepreneurship; Economic Growth; Economics and Business; Ekonomi och näringsliv; Entrepreneurship; Företagsekonomi; Industrial Organization; Innovation/Technology Management; Knowledge transfer; Management; N-Helix collaboration; Pandemics; Samhällsvetenskap; Social entrepreneurship; Social factors; Social Sciences; Stakeholders theory; Technology transfer; F62 (Macroeconomic impacts); L26 (Entrepreneurship); O35 (Social Innovation); O31 (Innovation and Inventions); Knowledge transfer; I23 (Universities and Research Institutions); Digital social entrepreneurship; N-Helix collaboration; L31 (Social Entrepreneurship); COVID-19 pandemic; I18 (Public Health); Stakeholders theory; Technology transfer; O33 (Technological change)
• ISSN: 0892-9912; 0892-9912; 1573-7047
• DOI: 10.1007/s10961-021-09855-4

This study explores the emergence of a new entrepreneurship phenomenon (digital social entrepreneurship) as a result of the collaboration among many agents (N-Helix), given the government’s limited capacity to respond to the stakeholders’ needs satisfaction related to an exogenous event (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic). Our theory development is based on three ongoing academic debates related to (a) the unrepresentativeness of the stakeholder theory in entrepreneurship research; (b) the emergence of digital social entrepreneurship (DSE) as a bridge between stakeholders’ needs, socio-economic actors, and digital-social initiatives; and (c) the role of N-Helix collaborations to facilitate the emergence of global knowledge-intensive initiatives and the rapid adoptions of open innovations. Our results support our assumptions about the positive mediation effect of DSE in the relationship between N-Helix collaborations and stakeholders’ satisfaction. Notably, results show how pandemic has intensified these relationships and how DSE in N-Helix collaborations can generate social impacts globally. Some implications for policy-makers have emerged from our results that should be considered during/post-COVID-19 pandemic.