Taking root in fertile ground: Community context and the agglomeration of hybrid companies

• Published in: Journal of business venturing Vol. 37; no. 2; p. 106184
• Main Authors: Russo, Michael V., Earle, Andrew G., Lahneman, Brooke A., Tilleman, Suzanne G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-03-2022
• Subjects: Agglomeration; Hybrid companies; Local communities; Place-based enterprise; Regional entrepreneurship; Regional entrepreneurship; Hybrid companies; Agglomeration; Place-based enterprise; Local communities
• ISSN: 0883-9026; 1873-2003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2021.106184

Where do hybrid companies flourish and why? We draw on economic theories of agglomeration and sociocultural theories of community to examine the specific contexts in which hybrids flourish, and offer an understanding of why place matters to the unique business models they employ. We hypothesize that a community's collectivism, political orientation, and third sector munificence have distinct roles in promoting hybrid company agglomeration. We test these hypotheses with data drawn from a variety of sources, covering 260 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas across 17 years. Our results indicate that both economic and sociocultural theories offer explanatory power, and their union more completely explains hybrid agglomeration. Additional analyses enrich our understanding of how this agglomeration unfolds over time.
•Hybrid companies agglomerate: They are very numerous in some communities and almost non-existent in others•Adding sociocultural variables to economic theories of agglomeration enriches our understanding of where and why hybrid concentration unfolds•Agglomeration rises with more munificent nonprofit sectors and in-place networking organizations but declines with more conservative politics•Unlike traditional forms of agglomeration, these groupings of hybrid companies span the full spectrum of industries