IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/tov/dsiess/v29y2012.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Business Incubation: The Case of the European Space Agency

Author

Listed:
  • Ernesto Tavoletti

    (Università degli Studi di Macerata)

  • Corrado Cerruti

    (Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata)

Abstract

We test a theoretical framework, based on four principles, that has been developed through a previous systematic literature review. The 'laboratories' that have been chosen in order to test the theoretical framework are the business incubators at the European Space Agency (ESA). The methodology is a multiple case study research of ESA's business incubators. The reason why we have chosen them is that the same ESA's successful business incubation programme is applied in different business incubators across different nations. That provides a unique empirical setting in which to test the internal and construction validity of our principles, neutralizing the influence of the hosting country. The final result is not a 'statistical generalization' regarding a population of business incubators, but an empirically, multiple case study based, 'analytical generalization' of the proposed theoretical framework. Such theoretical framework appears effective in explaining the success of ESA's business incubation programme. The collected evidences also have practical implications as we expect the framework can be applied by policy makers approaching the business incubation tool and extended to non-profit, publicly funded business incubators - the overwhelming majority of operating business incubators - that might take advantage from aligning their development strategy to our proposed frame- work. Classification-JEL L26, M13

Suggested Citation

  • Ernesto Tavoletti & Corrado Cerruti, 2012. "Business Incubation: The Case of the European Space Agency," DSI Essays Series, DSI - Dipartimento di Studi sull'Impresa, vol. 29.
    • Handle: RePEc:tov:dsiess:v:29:y:2012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://160.80.46.16/public/igf/files/Ricerca/collane_riviste/29_Tavoletti_Cerruti_epod_v2.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Williamson, Oliver E, 1991. "Economic Institutions: Spontaneous and Intentional Governance," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(0), pages 159-187, Special I.
    2. Phillip Phan & Donald S. Siegel & Mike Wright, 2016. "Science Parks and Incubators: Observations, Synthesis and Future Research," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Phillip H Phan & Sarfraz A Mian & Wadid Lamine (ed.), TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS INCUBATION Theory • Practice • Lessons Learned, chapter 9, pages 249-272, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Gans, Joshua S. & Stern, Scott, 2003. "The product market and the market for "ideas": commercialization strategies for technology entrepreneurs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 333-350, February.
    4. 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.
    5. Christine Tamásy, 2007. "Rethinking Technology‐Oriented Business Incubators: Developing a Robust Policy Instrument for Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Regional Development?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 460-473, September.
    6. Siegel, Donald S & Westhead, Paul & Wright, Mike, 2003. "Science Parks and the Performance of New Technology-Based Firms: A Review of Recent U.K. Evidence and an Agenda for Future Research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 177-184, March.
    7. Ernesto Tavoletti, 2013. "Business Incubators: Effective Infrastructures or Waste of Public Money? Looking for a Theoretical Framework, Guidelines and Criteria," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 4(4), pages 423-443, December.
    8. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5021 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Colombo, Massimo G. & Delmastro, Marco, 2002. "How effective are technology incubators?: Evidence from Italy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1103-1122, September.
    10. Rothaermel, Frank T. & Thursby, Marie, 2005. "University-incubator firm knowledge flows: assessing their impact on incubator firm performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 305-320, April.
    11. Rice, Mark P., 2002. "Co-production of business assistance in business incubators: an exploratory study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 163-187, March.
    12. Greene, Patricia Gene & Butler, John Sibley, 1996. "The minority community as a natural business incubator," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 51-58, May.
    13. Aruna Chandra & Wei He & Tim Fealey, 2007. "Business Incubators in China: A Financial Services Perspective," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 79-94, January.
    14. Foss, Nicolai J., 1998. "The resource-based perspective: An assessment and diagnosis of problems," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 133-149, March.
    15. I. Pena, 2004. "Business Incubation Centers and New Firm Growth in the Basque Country," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(3_4), pages 223-236, April.
    16. Sean M. Hackett & David M. Dilts, 2004. "A Real Options-Driven Theory of Business Incubation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 41-54, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Mian, Sarfraz & Lamine, Wadid & Fayolle, Alain, 2016. "Technology Business Incubation: An overview of the state of knowledge," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 50, pages 1-12.
    2. Li Xiao & David North, 2017. "The graduation performance of technology business incubators in China’s three tier cities: the role of incubator funding, technical support, and entrepreneurial mentoring," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 615-634, June.
    3. Frank J. Van Rijnsoever & Marijn A. Van Weele & Chris P. Eveleens, 2017. "Network brokers or hit makers? Analyzing the influence of incubation on start-up investments," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 605-629, June.
    4. Frank J. Van Rijnsoever & Marijn A. Van Weele & Chris P. Eveleens, 0. "Network brokers or hit makers? Analyzing the influence of incubation on start-up investments," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-25.
    5. Ernesto Tavoletti, 2013. "Business Incubators: Effective Infrastructures or Waste of Public Money? Looking for a Theoretical Framework, Guidelines and Criteria," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 4(4), pages 423-443, December.
    6. Jin Hong & Jinfeng Lu, 2016. "Assessing the effectiveness of business incubators in fostering SMEs: evidence from China," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 20(1/2), pages 45-60.
    7. 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.
    8. Schwartz, Michael, 2010. "A Control Group Study of Incubators’ Impact to Promote Firm Survival," IWH Discussion Papers 11/2010, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    9. Eric Stokan & Lyke Thompson & Robert J. Mahu, 2015. "Testing the Differential Effect of Business Incubators on Firm Growth," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 29(4), pages 317-327, November.
    10. Caren Klingbeil & Thorsten Semrau, 2017. "For whom size matters – the interplay between incubator size, tenant characteristics and tenant growth," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(7), pages 735-752, October.
    11. Christina Theodoraki & Karim Messeghem & Mark P. Rice, 2018. "A social capital approach to the development of sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems: an explorative study," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 153-170, June.
    12. Michael Schwartz, 2009. "Beyond incubation: an analysis of firm survival and exit dynamics in the post-graduation period," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 403-421, August.
    13. Michael Schwartz, 2013. "A control group study of incubators’ impact to promote firm survival," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 302-331, June.
    14. Hanadi Mubarak Al-Mubaraki & Michael Busler, 2017. "Challenges and opportunities of innovation and incubators as a tool for knowledge-based economy," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-18, December.
    15. Chris P. Eveleens & Frank J. Rijnsoever & Eva M. M. I. Niesten, 2017. "How network-based incubation helps start-up performance: a systematic review against the background of management theories," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 676-713, June.
    16. Laura Lecluyse & Mirjam Knockaert & André Spithoven, 2019. "The contribution of science parks: a literature review and future research agenda," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 559-595, April.
    17. Laura Lecluyse & Mirjam Knockaert & Annelore Huyghe, 2023. "It is not because it is offered that it is used: an investigation into firm-level determinants of use intensity of buffering services in science parks," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 85-104, June.
    18. Marijn van Weele & Frank J. Rijnsoever & Chris P. Eveleens & Henk Steinz & Niels Stijn & Menno Groen, 2018. "Start-EU-up! Lessons from international incubation practices to address the challenges faced by Western European start-ups," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(5), pages 1161-1189, October.
    19. J. Piet Hausberg & Sabrina Korreck, 2020. "Business incubators and accelerators: a co-citation analysis-based, systematic literature review," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 151-176, February.
    20. Cumming, Douglas J. & Fischer, Eileen, 2012. "Publicly funded business advisory services and entrepreneurial outcomes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 467-481.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; New Firms; Startups;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:tov:dsiess:v:29:y:2012. 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: Mario Risso (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dirotit.html .

    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.