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Do graduated university incubator firms benefit from their relationship with university incubators?

Author

Listed:
  • Vernet Lasrado

    (University of Central Florida)

  • Stephen Sivo

    (University of Central Florida)

  • Cameron Ford

    (University of Central Florida)

  • Thomas O’Neal

    (University of Central Florida)

  • Ivan Garibay

    (University of Central Florida)

Abstract

Business incubators have become a popular policy option and economic development intervention tool. However, recent research shows that incubated firms may not benefit significantly from their incubator relationships, and may even be more vulnerable to failure post departure (graduation) from an incubator. These findings suggest that the impact of business incubation on new venture viability may be contingent on the type of support offered by an incubator and attributes of business environments within which incubation services are provided. Incubation services that protect and isolate ventures from key resource dependencies may hinder venture development and increase subsequent vulnerability to environmental demands. Alternatively, incubation services that help ventures connect and align with key resource dependencies are likely to promote firm survival. We propose that incubators vary in the services and resources they offer, and that university incubators typically provide greater connectivity and legitimacy with respect to important contingencies associated with key industry and community stakeholders. This leads us to propose that university affiliation is an important contingency that affects the relationship between firms’ participation in incubators and their subsequent performance. The purpose of this study is to evaluate this contingency by examining whether firms graduating from university incubators attain higher levels of post-incubation performance than firms participating in non-university affiliated incubators. We test this by evaluating the performance of a sample of graduated firms associated with the population of university-based incubators in the US contrasted against the performance of a matched cohort of non-incubated firms. The analysis uses an enhanced dataset that tracks the number of employees, sales, and the entry and graduation (departure) points of incubated firms from a university incubation program, so as to delineate the scope of influence of the incubator.

Suggested Citation

  • Vernet Lasrado & Stephen Sivo & Cameron Ford & Thomas O’Neal & Ivan Garibay, 2016. "Do graduated university incubator firms benefit from their relationship with university incubators?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 205-219, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jtecht:v:41:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s10961-015-9412-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10961-015-9412-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Resource endowments; Economic development; Regional development; Entrepreneur support organizations; Business incubation; University based business incubators; Graduate firms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O44 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Environment and Growth

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