Innovation Ecosystem Configurations and Dual Performance Outcomes: A Configurational Analysis of Global Science Cities

This study examines how configurations of innovation ecosystem functions are associated with dual performance outcomes in global science cities. Moving beyond dominant variable-centered approaches, the study adopts a configurational perspective to explore how interdependent ecosystem conditions jointly shape (1) innovation capacity and (2) innovation-driven entrepreneurial dynamism. Drawing on an original dataset of 200 global science cities in 2023, the study employs fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify ecosystem configurations associated with these outcomes. The findings reveal pronounced equifinality and configurational asymmetry. High innovation capacity is associated with two distinct ecosystem arrangements: an endogenous knowledge-production configuration characterized by the alignment of human capital, research institutions, and industrial actors, and an openness-enabled configuration in which talent mobility co-occurs with institutional and industrial support. By contrast, high innovation-driven entrepreneurial dynamism is more consistently associated with configurations combining endogenous knowledge capacity with conditions related to commercialization and scaling, including talent circulation or advanced computing infrastructure. Configurations associated with non-high outcomes further suggest that underperformance is linked not only to resource deficiencies but also to misalignment across ecosystem domains. The study contributes to innovation ecosystem research by demonstrating that performance differences among global science cities are associated with internally coherent combinations of ecosystem functions rather than the independent effects of isolated factors. More broadly, the findings suggest that innovation capacity and entrepreneurial scaling follow partially different configurational logics, highlighting the importance of complementarity and context-specific ecosystem arrangements in global science cities.