Conceptual Model of the Ecosystem Value Balance

Abstract

Despite the growing interest in ecosystems, research on ecosystem-level value distribution is still scant. Value creation and different value dimensions have a relatively wide knowledge base in the context of dyadic relationships and networks. However, the existing ecosystem literature does not recognize these dimensions at the ecosystem level. This article proposes an initial framework for assessing the value, particularly at the ecosystem level. Furthermore, the majority of the existing literature focuses merely on financial and functional values. This framework denotes also social, emotional, and epistemic dimensions of value. The framework is built as a constructive process. This study presents a theoretically founded iterative design phase followed by the first empirical test with one case ecosystem. The findings indicate the value balance exists in a case ecosystem, which is in a stable and established state. The article also proposes the next steps to develop the framework further. These include e.g. testing the framework with ecosystems, which are in more volatile phases (i.e. pioneering or renewal phase) and developing a measurement regime for evaluating the importance of each different value dimension.