Entrepreneurship and Global Health: Catalyzing the Ecosystem

Abstract

Innovative financing for global health may stimulate new waves of entrepreneurial activity. Global policies have created new sources of financing to accelerate knowledge generation for healthcare in resource-poor settings. This article outlines the emerging research concerned with the entrepreneurial response to opportunities and incentives at the bottom of the pyramid for healthcare. Questions arise to what kind of business models can be used to provide affordable healthcare on a viable basis. We examine public-private partnerships as one mechanism to catalyze the ecosystem and draw in stakeholders to contribute to the innovation value chain. We integrate entrepreneurship, innovation and ecosystem theories to discuss how the entrepreneurial firm builds resources and creates value in the healthcare ecosystem.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, global health, innovation value chain, resource-based theory, policy & practice

JEL Classification: I11, M13