DEEM. Vision.
We provide a structured guideline for building multilevel, longitudinal datasets, facilitating deeper insights into ecosystem patterns and dynamics across different levels.
About DEEM.
DEEM is a research project focused on the conceptual and empirical study of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
- Focus: Dynamic Monitoring of the entrepreneurial ecosystem Baden-Württemberg
- Multiple levels of analysis: Founder, Firm, Ecosystem
- Multiple data sources:
- Archival data (e.g., business registers, economic indicators)
- Founder survey responses (e.g., capturing entrepreneur perceptions and motivations)
- Web-scraped information (e.g., startup identification, LinkedIn)
Our goals.
- Detect startups pre-registration and follow the cohort over time
- Conduct a yearly panel survey for the BW startup population analyzing different entrepreneurship research constructs (e.g., novelty, bricolage, identity, etc.)
- Publish yearly evidence-based policy reports
- Build an index to evaluate nascent entrepreneurial potential
- Public survey dataset for internal and external research purposes
Motivation.
Entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) are complex, multilevel phenomena that shape entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic development. However, our understanding of how EEs work is limited by the lack of comprehensive datasets.
The DEEM project aims to create a multilevel dataset for EE measurement using a dynamic ecosystem monitoring approach that addresses four key limitations of existing research:
- Lack of comprehensive local measures for EE elements
- Failure to capture more detailed founder data
- Lack of knowledge on early-stage entrepreneurship (i.e., entrepreneurial potential)
- Reliance on single-source data (e.g., archival OR self-reported data)
The DEEM dataset will complement prior research with novel insights into the effects of actors and factors at multiple spatial levels (state-region-district), nascent entrepreneurship, and the relationship between entrepreneurs and their local EE.
Publications.
- Hess, S. (2024). Empirical entrepreneurial ecosystem research: A guide to creating multilevel datasets. Journal of Business Venturing Insights. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2024.e00511
Data access.
Survey data
Data from the annual panel survey is processed by the DEEM. team and made available to the public in pseudonymized form. The pseudonymization enables researchers to track individual startups and their development over time and thus gain deeper insights, while the startups themselves cannot be identified and traced.
As soon as the data processing has been completed, results will be made available. More information and and data access will be provided here.
Access startup data
For any requests regarding the startup data collected as part of the DEEM. project that are not part of the survey data, please proceed as follows:
Please send a written request by e-mail to deem@eni.uni-stuttgart.de with the following information about your project:
- Information about you (name, institution, project)
- Required data and information
- Intended use
All requests will be reviewed internally by the DEEM. team. Please note that a request does not necessarily lead to data access and that we reserve the right to reject requests for any reason.
Replication
If you want to replicate our approach in your context and create your own dataset, you can find the code base on GitHub.
This repository contains scripts to create a dataset for entrepreneurial ecosystem research, as the paper Empirical Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Research: A Guide to Creating Multilevel Datasets explains.
Projects.
UpStart BW's goal is the identification of success factors for nascent startups in order to formulate recommendations for startup founders as well as external actors (policymakers, investors). This includes developing an index to rank nascent startups according to their entrepreneurial potential based on economic, societal, and environmental factors.
Partners.
DEEM. is funded by the state initiative NXTGN. The startup potential of Baden-Württemberg as a location for research, science, and ‘Mittelstand’ is enormous. With NXTGN and our partners in Baden-Württemberg, we build a decentralized ecosystem to create synergies and elevate entrepreneurship in our region.
UpStart BW is funded by the Péter Horváth Foundation. To contribute toward a sustainable, climate-neutral, just and healthy society, Horváth engages in various projects in line with the United Nations’ sustainability goals and the Paris Agreement on climate and emissions. As part of this initiative, the foundation engages in the fields of science, culture and understanding between nations.
The DEEM-Team

Andreas Wahl
Dr. rer. pol.Head of Teaching

Sophia Hess
Research Associate

Johannes Engels
Research Associate