Why do some regions continuously exhibit productive entrepreneurship while others stagnate? The entrepreneurial ecosystem and innovation are buzzwords within academic research, representing the cultural, economic, social, and political environment supporting productive entrepreneurship. Scholars have examined the linkage between ecosystems and innovation in the past few years, and there is an agreement that the interaction of entrepreneurial actors, institutions, and cultures facilitates new venture development and productive entrepreneurship. However, despite burgeoning research, the entrepreneurial ecosystem still represents a metaphor lacking clarity. There is little agreement on the causal mechanisms driving the entrepreneurial ecosystem and innovation outcomes as the research at the current stage involves diverse views and is currently fragmented. We present a review of ninety-eight articles to synthesize existing research evidence on entrepreneurial ecosystems by identifying the ecosystem aspects maximizing innovative capacity. The content analysis reveals three predominant themes: (1) the role of universities, (2) the role of entrepreneurial actors, and (3) innovation as an outcome of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The findings highlight scholarly attention on the interactions between elements of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and reveal the crucial role of entrepreneurial actors as drivers of innovation. We contribute to the prior research by offering an overview of predominant themes and proposing a conceptual framework. Shedding light on the intersection between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and innovation is a potential pathway for future ecosystem research.

为什么有些地区持续展现出生产性创业精神，而另一些地区则停滞不前？创业生态系统和创新是学术研究中的流行语，代表支持生产性创业的文化、经济、社会和政治环境。过去几年，学者们研究了生态系统与创新之间的联系，并一致认为，创业参与者、机构和文化的相互作用促进了新企业的发展和生产性创业。然而，尽管研究蓬勃发展，创业生态系统仍然是一个缺乏清晰度的隐喻。由于现阶段的研究观点多样且碎片化，对于驱动创业生态系统和创新成果的因果机制尚无共识。我们对 98 篇文章进行了综述，通过确定最大化创新能力的生态系统方面来综合创业生态系统的现有研究证据。内容分析揭示了三个主要主题：（1）大学的作用，（2）创业参与者的作用，以及（3）创新作为创业生态系统的结果。研究结果凸显了学术界对创业生态系统各要素之间相互作用的关注，并揭示了创业参与者作为创新驱动力的关键作用。我们通过提供主要主题的概述并提出概念框架来为先前的研究做出贡献。阐明创业生态系统与创新之间的交叉点是未来生态系统研究的潜在途径。