The moderating power of ties: empirical evidence on the socio-cultural embeddedness of entrepreneurial ecosystems

Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EE) literature frames entrepreneurial activity as context-embedded, yet a persistent puzzle remains: places systematically deviate from presumed structural trajectories. We argue that this arises because EE operate as complex adaptive systems (CAS), in which dynamic interactions among components make structural isomorphism incompatible with their evolutionary nature. We analyse the moderating role of socio-cultural embeddedness, operationalized as bridging and bonding social capital, in the relationship between EE structural elements and entrepreneurial output. Using novel Facebook-based proxies for U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in 2022, we estimate cross-sectional moderated regression models. Across two EE output measures – New Business Starts and Job Creation by New Firms – we find robust evidence that both forms of social capital act as moderators. Notably, our estimates surface a substitutability effect conjecture: as bridging social capital increases, the marginal effect of certain EE elements on output diminishes, while that of others strengthens – a pattern not observed for bonding social capital. These findings highlight how socio-cultural embeddedness is associated with EE dynamics.