Abstract
While the literature on Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EEs) predominantly concentrates on endogenously-developed systems of entrepreneurial actors, this paper investigates the atypical emergence of EEs initiated by inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In these more deviant cases, international connectivity and public policy initiative are rooted in the ecosystem from the outset, but their interdependence has received only limited attention to date. This gap led to our research question: how does the interplay between public institutional support and international connectivity facilitate the emergence and growth of an entrepreneurial ecosystem in a "desert of knowledge?  An empirical analysis is undertaken on the development of the Medical Technology sector in two locations   - Costa Rica Central Valley and the West of Ireland - where inward FDI from public policy initiative was the trigger for the genesis and subsequent growth of the sector in both regions. Despite having similar starting points, an entrepreneurial ecosystem has developed in one location (West of Ireland), whilst the other (Costa Rica Central Valley) has fallen short to date. By undertaking a comparative analysis, the main finding reveals that public institutional support must promote the local development of knowledge capabilities to absorb knowledge from abroad (outside-in) and transform knowledge to serve an international market through domestic new entrepreneurial firms and FDI (inside-out). The evolving nature, timing and quality of public institutional support and international connectivity matters in hindering or promoting an EE from FDI.


Dr. Giulio Buciuni is an Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Trinity College Dublin and the director of the M.Sc. in Entrepreneurship, which he launched in 2017. Prior to joining Trinity Business School in 2016, he worked as a research fellow at the University of Toronto and at Cà Foscari University of Venice.
Dr. Buciuni's research interest focuses on the spatial distribution of innovation, and more specifically on the conditions enabling the genesis and growth of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE) and the mechanisms underlying innovation development in Global Value Chains (GVC). The results of his research have been published in several leading academic journals such as Global Strategy Journal, Regional Studies, Journal of World Business and Journal of Economic Geography and have been cited by Forbes and the website of Harvard Business School.
In 2023 Dr. Buciuni published a book, “Periferie Competitive”, which discusses the growing divide between ‘superstar’ and second-tier cities and analyses the strategies for innovation development in secondary places. An expanded and English version of the book is expected to be released in 2025 under the title “Underdog Cities”.