Title: The organisational structure of university business incubators and their impact on the success of start-ups: an international study

Authors: Christian Lendner, Michael Dowling

Addresses: University of Applied Sciences Deggendorf, Edlmairstrasse 6 + 8, Deggendorf 94469, Germany. ' Innovation and Technology Management, University of Regensburg, Regensburg 93040, Germany

Abstract: In this paper, data from a global survey of University Business Incubators (UBIs) are used to examine the main goals, organisational structure and the business strategies of UBIs and their impact on the incubators| firms. This paper also provides a conceptual framework based on network theory to examine success factors for start-ups in the UBIs. Universities can organise the critical resources of human capital and specific entrepreneurial experience into a separate entity or facility to assist young entrepreneurial start-ups for success, called UBIs. In this paper, we present the results of a survey of over 300 UBIs worldwide. Of the over 130 respondents, 44% are located in the USA or Canada, 41% in Europe and 15% in the rest of the world. The data from this survey allowed us to use multiple regression analysis for empirical testing of a set of hypotheses developed from network theory.

Keywords: university business incubators; UBIs; networks; technology transfer; research commercialisation; science parks; start up companies; spin-offs; entrepreneurship; regional development; innovation; organisational structure; network theory.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2007.014596

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2007 Vol.7 No.6, pp.541 - 555

Published online: 17 Jul 2007 *

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