Genius loci and Social Capital as the glue for the success of Entrepreneurial ecosystems

The role of social capital in entrepreneurship has become an increasingly prominent topic in business literature, and the debate about pros and cons has become increasingly complex. This study aims to shed light on the pre-conditions (the so called ‘genius loci’) that, by leveraging social capital, favour forms of participatory territorial governance aimed at enhancing regional development and wellbeing, also through the spur of high-tech startups. We focused on a paradigmatic case study: the Marche Region, (Italy). Indeed, in the age of the so-called “Italian economy miracle”, the Marche region was an example of flexible specialisation and the development of industrial clusters and districts, investigated by renowned researchers. The case we have explored focuses on innovative Marche startups and aims to understand if and how the sharing of shared values linked to the history of the territory can still be the source of social capital that allows new businesses to benefit from positive externalities. From our analysis, focused on the behaviour of three key players of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the Marche region (the PA, the new crowdfunding platforms and universities), evidence would appear to confirm what has already emerged from other research.. Indeed, social capital is the glue that decrees, at a meso-level, the success of local development thanks to the form of governance and territorial social responsibility promoted by networks of local actors, public and private, who are oriented to sustainable development