Guest editors
Veneta Andonova
Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
Sascha Fuerst
EGADE Business School, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico, & University of Turku, Finland
Carlos Rodriguez
INCAE Business School, Costa Rica
Introduction
This special issue is linked to the 11th International Conference on Strategic Management in Latin America (SMLA 2026), to be held on 3–4 December 2026 at the Universidad de los Andes School of Management in Bogota, Colombia. As with previous editions of this conference series, authors need not have presented at SMLA 2026 to submit. The issue examines how strategic management interacts with the institutional architecture of entrepreneurial ecosystems in Latin America. By concentrating on high-impact ventures and the constituents that compose their surrounding ecosystems (i.e. capital, talent, norms, and policy), it offers context-specific evidence of how strategic choices made under conditions of volatility and institutional voids (Mair & Martí, 2009; Schmutzler et al., 2019) generate feedback effects that reshape the ecosystems in which these ventures operate. Expected contributions include comparative metrics of entrepreneurial output, comparative case studies of venture-scaling strategies, and policy-relevant frameworks for evaluating institutional interventions.
Its originality lies in focusing strategic management and entrepreneurship within the specific institutional configurations of Latin American entrepreneurial ecosystems, a nexus that remains comparatively underexplored despite growing investor and founder interest in the region (Aguinis et al., 2020; Bruton et al., 2008; Fuerst, 2025). The issue foregrounds how high-impact ventures and corporate-backed startups reshape the constituents of their ecosystems (Andonova et al., 2026; Spigel, 2017; Stam, 2015), highlights the role of Global South-based intermediaries such as accelerators and incubators, and introduces measurement frameworks adapted to informality and rapid digitalization (Amorós et al., 2019). The proposed focus complements, rather than duplicates, recent Latin America-focused special issues, including EBR’s own 2021 issue on entrepreneurship challenges (Amorós, Leiva, Bonomo, & Sosa Varela, 2021), EBR’s 2026 issue on strategic innovation and sustainability (Fuerst et al., forthcoming), and Management Research’s 2024 issue on strategic management under VUCA conditions (Pels & Rodriguez, 2024). None of these adopts an ecosystem-level, institutional-architecture lens on high-impact ventures.
Timing is supported by converging empirical and theoretical trends. Much of the extant strategy and entrepreneurship literature remains Global North-centric (Bruton et al., 2008); regional data show rapid digital adoption alongside persistent inequality and informality (ECLAC, 2024); and recent shocks such as the coronavirus pandemic, supply-chain disruptions, climate-related events, and migration have exposed the fragility of entrepreneurial ecosystems (Andonova & Pérez, 2024; Zapata-Cantu & González, 2021). Policymakers are experimenting with regulatory sandboxes and targeted industrial policies, yet rigorous, context-adapted evaluations remain scarce.
Findings are expected to inform several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), SDG 1 and SDG 10 (poverty reduction and reduced inequalities), and SDG 17 (partnerships), through evidence-based guidance for managers and policymakers pursuing inclusive, resilient entrepreneurship in the region.
Submissions should speak to European Business Review’s core disciplinary interests (i.e. strategy, entrepreneurship, international business, and governance) and may be conceptual, empirical (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method), or literature reviews, consistent with EBR’s editorial policy and double-blind peer-review process.
Aguinis, H., Villamor, I., Lazzarini, S. G., Vassolo, R. S., Amorós, J. E., & Allen, D. G. (2020). Conducting management research in Latin America: Why and what's in it for you? Journal of Management, 46(5), 615–636.
Amorós, J. E., Leiva, J. C., Bonomo, A., & Sosa Varela, J. C. (2021). Guest editorial: The entrepreneurship challenges in Latin America. European Business Review, 33(6), 837–848.
Amorós, J. E., Poblete, C., & Mandakovic, V. (2019). R&D transfer, policy and innovative ambitious entrepreneurship: Evidence from Latin American countries. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 44(5), 1396–1415.
Andonova, V., Finchelstein, D., & Duque, J. G. (Eds.). (2026). Unicorns from Emerging Economies: Creating Value Through Technology and Innovation. Cambridge University Press.
Andonova, V., & Pérez, J. (2024). Entrepreneurial ecosystems and diaspora: how do remittances and migration affect country of origin early-stage entrepreneurial activity? In Cunningham, J., Menter, M., O’Kane, C., & Romano, M. (Eds.), Research Handbook on Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Bruton, G. D., Ahlstrom, D., & Obloj, K. (2008). Entrepreneurship in emerging economies: Where are we today and where should the research go in the future? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 32(1), 1–14.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). (2024). Overcoming Development Traps in Latin America and the Caribbean in the Digital Age: The Transformative Potential of Digital Technologies and Artificial Intelligence. United Nations.
Fuerst, S. (2025). Scale-Ups and scaling within Latin America. In C. Felzensztein, A. Bagheri & C. Lechner (Eds.), A Research Agenda for Startups, Scale-up, Scale-down, and Re-scaling Strategies, (pp. 134-149). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Fuerst, S., Rodriguez, C., & Ramírez-Solís, E.R. (forthcoming). Strategic Innovation and Sustainability in Latin America. European Business Review.
Mair, J., & Martí, I. (2009). Entrepreneurship in and around institutional voids: A case study from Bangladesh. Journal of Business Venturing, 24(5), 419–435.
Pels, J., & Rodriguez, C. A. (2024). Guest editorial: Special issue introduction: Strategic management in Latin America: Exploring a VUCA context within a change of era. Management Research: The Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, 22(2), 105–112.
Schmutzler, J., Andonova, V., & Diaz-Serrano, L. (2019). How Context Shapes Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy as a Driver of Entrepreneurial Intentions: A Multilevel Approach. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 43(5), 880-920.
Spigel, B. (2017). The relational organization of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41(1), 49–72.
Stam, E. (2015). Entrepreneurial ecosystems and regional policy: A sympathetic critique. European Planning Studies, 23(9), 1759–1769.
Zapata-Cantu, L., & González, F. (2021). Challenges for innovation and sustainable development in Latin America: The significance of institutions and human capital. Sustainability, 13(7), 4077.
List of topic areas
How institutional architectures (i.e. capital, talent, norms, and policy) shape the emergence and strategic behavior of high-impact ventures in Latin America.
How new ventures and corporate startups formulate and execute scaling strategies under institutional voids, resource constraints, and macroeconomic volatility.
How comparative metrics and methodologies that account for informality, inequality, and rapid digitalization can be developed and validated for entrepreneurship research in the Global South.
How entrepreneurial ecosystem intermediaries (e.g., accelerators, incubators, venture capital firms, and entrepreneurship support organizations) function and evolve in Latin American contexts.
How public policy instruments, governance structures, and regulatory experimentation (e.g., regulatory sandboxes, targeted industrial policy) affect entrepreneurial ecosystems in the region.
How feedback effects between firm-level strategic choices and institutional change reshape entrepreneurial ecosystems over time.
Submissions information
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ebrev
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: https://www.emerald.com/ebr
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Key deadlines
Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 01/01/2027
Closing date for manuscripts submission: 01/03/2027
