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This study contributes to a better understanding of the important actor-specific, micro-level legitimacy dimensions in dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs).

Using an embedded case study approach and rich longitudinal data collected over 16 years within a French EE, the study analyzes the legitimacy gaining process of two actors coming from opposite founding conditions.

Three dimensions of legitimacy (3L) are necessary to be accepted as functional actors within EEs: institutional legitimacy (IL) refers to the EE's acceptance of an actor as an institution active in the field of entrepreneurship; cultural legitimacy (CL) means that the actor is recognized as possessing and promoting values considered appropriate by the entrepreneurial community; relational legitimacy (RL) relates to the willingness of the entrepreneurial community to interact with the actor. These are complementary dimensions that members of EEs need to possess to acquire full legitimacy. Different paths are possible to achieve this full legitimacy.

Replicating the study with a comparative approach including more actors could represent an interesting avenue for research.

This research provides insights into the underlying dimensions of legitimacy in EEs, how various actors gain legitimacy in such contexts and how this influences the dynamics of EEs.

The results provide novel insights into the issue of legitimacy in EEs and legitimacy theory in general.

Entrepreneurial ecosystems provide the context for start-ups to access resources. The authors investigate the reliance of start-ups on their entrepreneurial ecosystem and the driving factors behind the proportion of local actors (belonging to their entrepreneurial ecosystem) within their overall set of relationships (their business ecosystem). Recognizing the limited relational capacity of firms, the authors focus on three differentiating firm characteristics: size, age and innovation of firms.

The authors developed a sample of 163 start-ups located in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Toulouse, France. The authors investigated the characteristics of their relationship sets using regression analysis.

The results confirm that age is inversely related to the proportion of a start-up's relationships located in its entrepreneurial ecosystem. More surprisingly, for older start-ups, the authors also highlight the presence of a moderating effect of the start-up's size on the relationship between its degree of innovation and the proportion of its relationships in its entrepreneurial ecosystem: Larger and more innovative start-ups appear to rely more on their local entrepreneurial ecosystem.

This research increases the understanding of the characteristics driving the interactions of start-ups with their entrepreneurial ecosystems by adopting a relational capacity approach. The authors introduce digital methods as an innovative approach for uncovering firms' ecosystems. Finally, from a practical point of view, the research should provide public authorities seeking to promote the link between local resources and the development of innovative start-ups in their regions with interesting insights.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the effect of professional preparation support on the transformation of nascent ventures into actual start‐ups.

An intention‐based approach is used. Longitudinal data concerning 228 nascent entrepreneurs are analysed using hierarchical binary logistic regression.

The positive effect of professional preparation support on start‐up outcomes is apparent in the results. However, self‐selection effects are detected concerning the use of individual preparation support. The results hold after controlling for these selection effects, intention and other project‐ and individual‐level influences.

The sample size limited the number of variables that could be analysed and the operationalisation used for support could be refined. In addition, the macro‐economic context in which the study took place influenced the results. The results concur with those which consider pre‐start‐up preparation support as a valuable tool to help individuals carry their projects through. In addition, they illustrate the relevance of intention‐based entrepreneurship research and show how this approach can be used to study various factors influencing entrepreneurial processes.

The results show that support actors can contribute to start‐up projects getting launched. They also highlight the presence of self‐selection issues that may be important for support networks to take into consideration when designing their programmes.

To the author's knowledge, this is the first application of an intention‐based approach to study the effect of professional support on a group of nascent entrepreneurs identified so early in their preparation.

Entrepreneurship scholars have become more demanding concerning detailed investigations of nascent venturing processes. The purpose of this paper is to propose indicators measuring the impact that these processes in general, and support actions in particular, have on individuals.

Existing theories that could be used to analyze the impact of nascent venture experiences on individuals are reviewed. Literature and official statements regarding the underlying objectives of different stakeholders in company creation in France are then presented. Following this, performance indicators used by researchers and French support networks are discussed in relation to these objectives.

It is shown that indicators that could provide information regarding the potential effects of startup processes on individuals exist but remain to be used with nascent entrepreneurs. A proposal as to how these indicators might be adapted to the specific needs of nascent entrepreneurship research is made.

The indicators proposed here are identified in a review of the literature, in which studies are primarily undertaken on student samples. Their practical adaptation to populations of nascent entrepreneurs remains to be implemented.

The suggested indicators should be of use to professional support actors who constantly look to improve their service to nascent entrepreneurs. They should also provide valuable information to the individuals considering or involved in startups on how to use support more efficiently, to policy makers for assessing the impact of specific support efforts and to academics designing entrepreneurship programmes.

The paper proposes readily applicable indicators for nascent entrepreneurship outcomes by drawing on a variety of research streams and linking them to practical information.

The purpose of this paper is to test the ability of Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior to predict entrepreneurial intent in 12 countries representing all ten of the global regional clusters as identified in the GLOBE project.

Ajzen's model was operationalized to address entrepreneurial intent and a questionnaire was developed consisting of previously used scales, as well as a new measure of entrepreneurial autonomy. A total of 1,748 usable questionnaires were collected from university business students in 12 countries.

The results suggest that Ajzen's model of planned behavior, as operationalized in this study, does successfully predict entrepreneurial intent in each of the study countries, although as foreseen by Ajzen, the significant contributing model elements differ by country as does the percent of the variance explained by the model, although one model element, social norms, was a significant predictor of entrepreneurial intent in each country.

This is the first paper to provide insight to the role of cognition in the entrepreneurial process by examining a model of planned behavior in countries representing all global regional culture clusters. The paper also provides guidance for future entrepreneurial research and individual development of entrepreneurs.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary and overview of the papers selected by the Guest Editors for this Special Issue on supporting new venture creation in the twenty‐first century. The paper seeks to identify key themes platformed in the articles, and to demonstrate how the papers' findings contribute to a possible new research agenda in the area of new venture creation support.

This is a conceptual paper, providing a thematic editorial overview of the papers contained in this special issue.

The paper helps further the understanding of the complexities of the new venture creation process, as well as the type of support required.

The paper is based on the collective findings of ten articles.

Current support for new venture creation continues to be under‐utilised, under‐evaluated and not entirely aligned to the needs of aspiring and existing new venturers.

The paper should be of value to those researching entrepreneurship and new venture creation support, as it suggests areas upon which scholars should focus. The paper also offers new directions for government to consider when planning future support initiatives, and calls for academics to be involved in objectively evaluating the effectiveness of existing initiatives.