Microfoundations and dynamics of do-it-yourself ecosystems.

Small-scale do-it-yourself (DIY) practices have driven emerging user communities and global movements. As research on ecosystems has proliferated, limited insights have been generated on the interdependent and dynamic nature of DIY ecosystems. Drawing on observations of a locally established space for DIY activities ("makerspace") with international networks, a flexible pattern matching approach was adopted in explaining how disparate projects played a primary role in the formation of a self-sustaining DIY ecosystem with interdependent start-up actors, or "makers". Two patterns were drawn from the literature on DIY ecosystems to discover matches and mismatches in longitudinal data that were drawn from a coworking-space in Shenzhen, China. The findings suggest two emergent dimensions: internal alignment, and connection with, and resilience to, the ecosystem's external environment. We explain how these dimensions advance understanding of DIY ecosystems by illuminating their interdependent and self-sustaining nature. Policy recommendations are also offered in supporting the development particularly of user communities in makerspaces. • A flexible pattern matching approach was adopted to generate new insights on DIY ecosystems beyond regional borders and focal actors. • The study applied two patterns drawn from the literature on ecosystems to discover matches and mismatches in longitudinal data that were collected from multiple participants and archives of a coworking-space in Shenzhen, China. • Adopting Adner's (2017) ecosystem-as-structure perspective, the study found an internally aligned structure that facilitated DIY practices and the development of creative ideas, and a strong connection between the ecosystem and its environment, and resilience to that environment. • These dimensions advance scholarly and policymakers' knowledge of the distinguishable features of self-regulating DIY ecosystems and how these ecosystems may emerge and their features may form and coalesce from DIY practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]