IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecdequ/v25y2011i1p79-90.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Incubation Push or Business Pull? Investigating the Geography of U.S. Business Incubators

Author

Listed:
  • Haifeng Qian

    (Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, USA)

  • Kingsley E. Haynes

    (George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA, khaynes@gmu.edu)

  • James D. Riggle

    (George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA)

Abstract

The primary purposes of this article are to present new data on the geographic distribution of U.S. business incubators and to explore the geographically bounded factors that influence the location of business incubators. The authors’ data show that U.S. business incubators are unevenly distributed across urban/rural divisions, states, and counties. Factor analysis identifies three common factors from 28 demographic, social, and economic variables drawn from publicly available data at the county level. These factors include agglomeration, welfare, and business/entrepreneurship. The results of binomial logistic regressions suggest that incubators are more likely to be found in counties with high levels of agglomeration but low levels of existing business development. Our findings suggest support for the incubation push hypothesis over the business pull hypothesis on the location of business incubators based on the regional configuration of incubator presence.

Suggested Citation

  • Haifeng Qian & Kingsley E. Haynes & James D. Riggle, 2011. "Incubation Push or Business Pull? Investigating the Geography of U.S. Business Incubators," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 25(1), pages 79-90, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:25:y:2011:i:1:p:79-90
    DOI: 10.1177/0891242410383275
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0891242410383275
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0891242410383275?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Timothy J. Bartik, 2010. "Small Business Start-Ups in the United States: Estimates of the Effects of Characteristics of States," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Zolton Acs (ed.),Entrepreneurship and regional Development, pages 155-169, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    2. Sam Youl Lee & Richard Florida & Zoltan J. Acs, 2008. "Creativity and Entrepreneurship: A Regional Analysis of New Firm Formation," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 13, pages 171-182, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. David Audretsch & Dirk Dohse & Annekatrin Niebuhr, 2010. "Cultural diversity and entrepreneurship: a regional analysis for Germany," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 45(1), pages 55-85, August.
    4. Joel Wiggins, David V. Gibson, 2003. "Overview of US incubators and the case of the Austin Technology Incubator," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(1/2), pages 56-66.
    5. Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano & Giovanni Peri, 2021. "The economic value of cultural diversity: evidence from US cities," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Firms and Workers in a Globalized World Larger Markets, Tougher Competition, chapter 7, pages 187-222, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Mian, Sarfraz A., 1996. "Assessing value-added contributions of university technology business incubators to tenant firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 325-335, May.
    7. Zoltán J. Ács & Pontus Braunerhjelm & David B. Audretsch & Bo Carlsson, 2015. "The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 7, pages 129-144, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Acs,Zoltan J. & Armington,Catherine, 2011. "Entrepreneurship, Geography, and American Economic Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107402539, September.
    9. Rothaermel, Frank T. & Thursby, Marie, 2005. "Incubator firm failure or graduation?: The role of university linkages," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1076-1090, September.
    10. Rudy Aernoudt, 2004. "Incubators: Tool for Entrepreneurship?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 127-135, September.
    11. David B. Audretsch, 1995. "Innovation and Industry Evolution," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011468, April.
    12. Feldman, Maryann P, 2001. "The Entrepreneurial Event Revisited: Firm Formation in a Regional Context," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 10(4), pages 861-891, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Iryna Lendel & Haifeng Qian, 2017. "Inside the Great Recession: University Products and Regional Economic Development," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 153-173, March.
    2. Haifeng Qian & Kingsley Haynes, 2014. "Beyond innovation: the Small Business Innovation Research program as entrepreneurship policy," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 524-543, August.
    3. Kingsley E. Haynes & Haifeng Qian & Sidney C. Turner, 2012. "The location of business support programs: does the knowledge context matter?," Chapters, in: Charlie Karlsson & Börje Johansson & Roger R. Stough (ed.), Entrepreneurship, Social Capital and Governance, chapter 13, pages 302-324, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Mack, Elizabeth A. & Marie-Pierre, Lisa & Redican, Kyle, 2017. "Entrepreneurs’ use of internet and social media applications," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 120-139.
    5. Haifeng Qian & Zoltán J. Ács & Roger R. Stough, 2015. "Regional systems of entrepreneurship: the nexus of human capital, knowledge and new firm formation," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 14, pages 257-285, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Haifeng Qian & Kingsley Haynes, 2010. "Incubation Push or Business Pull? Investigating the Geography of US Business Incubators," Working Papers Working Paper 2010-05, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University.
    2. repec:rri:wpaper:201005 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Kingsley E. Haynes & Haifeng Qian & Sidney C. Turner, 2012. "The location of business support programs: does the knowledge context matter?," Chapters, in: Charlie Karlsson & Börje Johansson & Roger R. Stough (ed.), Entrepreneurship, Social Capital and Governance, chapter 13, pages 302-324, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Haifeng Qian & Kingsley Haynes, 2014. "Beyond innovation: the Small Business Innovation Research program as entrepreneurship policy," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 524-543, August.
    5. Kingsley E. Haynes, 2011. "The Location of Business Support Programs: Does the Knowledge Context Matter?," ERSA conference papers ersa10p1499, European Regional Science Association.
    6. Niccolò Ghio & Massimiliano Guerini & Erik Lehmann & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2015. "The emergence of the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 1-18, January.
    7. Haifeng Qian & Zoltán J. Ács & Roger R. Stough, 2015. "Regional systems of entrepreneurship: the nexus of human capital, knowledge and new firm formation," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 14, pages 257-285, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Haifeng Qian, 2013. "Diversity Versus Tolerance: The Social Drivers of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in US Cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(13), pages 2718-2735, October.
    9. Alessandra Colombelli & Francesco Quatraro, 2019. "Green start-ups and local knowledge spillovers from clean and dirty technologies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 773-792, April.
    10. Alessandra Colombelli, 2016. "The impact of local knowledge bases on the creation of innovative start-ups in Italy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 383-396, August.
    11. Shaoming Cheng & Huaqun Li, 2012. "New firm formation facing cultural and racial diversity," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(4), pages 759-774, November.
    12. Shiqin Liu & Haifeng Qian & Kingsley E. Haynes, 2021. "Entrepreneurship in Small Cities: Evidence From U.S. Micropolitan Areas," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 35(1), pages 3-21, February.
    13. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Daniel Hardy, 2015. "Cultural Diversity and Entrepreneurship in England and Wales," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 47(2), pages 392-411, February.
    14. Elsie Harper-Anderson & David A. Lewis, 2018. "What Makes Business Incubation Work? Measuring the Influence of Incubator Quality and Regional Capacity on Incubator Outcomes," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 32(1), pages 60-77, February.
    15. Tsvetkova, Alexandra, 2016. "Do diversity, creativity and localized competition promote endogenous firm formation? Evidence from a high-tech US industry," MPRA Paper 72349, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Haifeng Qian & Zoltán J. Ács, 2015. "An absorptive capacity theory of knowledge spillover entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 9, pages 161-173, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Alessandra Colombelli & Emilio Paolucci & Elisabetta Raguseo & Gianluca Elia, 2024. "The creation of digital innovative start-ups: the role of digital knowledge spillovers and digital skill endowment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 917-937, March.
    18. Alessandra Colombelli & Gianluca Orsatti & Francesco Quatraro, 2021. "Local knowledge composition and the emergence of entrepreneurial activities across industries: evidence from Italian NUTS-3 regions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 613-635, February.
    19. Haifeng Qian, 2017. "Knowledge base differentiation in urban systems of innovation and entrepreneurship," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(7), pages 1655-1672, May.
    20. Colombelli, Alessandra & Quatraro, Francesco, 2018. "New firm formation and regional knowledge production modes: Italian evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 139-157.
    21. Brian J. Bergman & Jeffery S. McMullen, 2022. "Helping Entrepreneurs Help Themselves: A Review and Relational Research Agenda on Entrepreneurial Support Organizations," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(3), pages 688-728, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:25:y:2011:i:1:p:79-90. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.