Following the Science? Scientific Knowledge Use in Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Policymaking

Abstract

The academic community is often considered a relevant actor in variouspolicymaking arenas. The literature on the use and impact of research in policymak-ing has pointed to several ways that knowledge can flow between the academic worldto policy (and vice-versa), even though gaps in understanding this relationship existfor this in certain areas, as is the case with Entrepreneurship Ecosystem policies. Inthis sense, this study aims to identify and analyze how research and scientific knowl-edge have been used by policy actors in policy documents and policymaking processesrelated to entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) in the European Union. The study focuseson the role of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a cluster of 10 scientific areas that formthe EU Science Hub. We used an altimetry tool (Overton) to identify the use of re-search in policy documents. The results indicate the prevalence of apoliticalapproachunderpinned by strategic use of knowledge and expertise as well as strong expert con-centration and convergence effects. We discuss these results in terms of their implica-tions for EEs policy and research and identify avenues for future research.