Beyond innovation: How a heritage-based ecosystem is sustained over time

Entrepreneurial ecosystem research has primarily developed in innovation- and growth-oriented contexts, leaving limited understanding of how ecosystems function in tradition-based settings, where continuity rather than innovation is central. Drawing on an in-depth qualitative case study of the historic violinmaking industry in Cremona, Italy, this paper examines how an entrepreneurial ecosystem operates when entrepreneurship is embedded in a centuries-old craft tradition. Using a social capital lens, we investigate the key features of a heritage-based ecosystem and the mechanisms through which it is enacted and sustained over time. Our findings reveal that the ecosystem is organized around autonomous artisan-entrepreneurs, supported by the coexistence and equal importance of formal and informal networks, and oriented toward preservation and legitimacy rather than growth. We further identify shared commitment to the craft, selective trust, and entrepreneurial passion as central mechanisms sustaining coordination, engagement, and intergenerational continuity. By extending entrepreneurial ecosystem literature beyond innovation-centric settings and highlighting entrepreneurial passion as a system-level mechanism, this study contributes to a more pluralistic understanding of the functioning of a heritage-based ecosystem.