Title: Business incubators in Brazil: does affiliation matter?

Authors: Aruna Chandra; Chia-An Chao; Evelin Cristina Astolpho

Addresses: Management, Information Systems and Business Education Department Scott College of Business, Indiana State University 30 North 7th Street, Terre Haute, Indiana 47809, USA ' Management, Information Systems and Business Education Department Scott College of Business, Indiana State University 30 North 7th Street, Terre Haute, Indiana 47809, USA ' National Association of Innovative Enterprises Promoting Entities (ANPROTEC), SCN Quadra 01, Bloco C, Salas 209 a 211, Edifício Brasília Trade Center, Brasília, Distrito Federal, CEP 70.711-902, Brazil

Abstract: Business incubators have been growing in Brazil supported by a rich web of linkages between government, business and academia leading to local innovation and re-invention of global models of incubation. This study explores the differences between university and non-university affiliated incubators in Brazil in order to examine the impact of affiliation, defined as the number of direct formal links/ties to an external partner, on the incubator's ability to access funding for its inception and growth, its mix of value added services and its subjective and objective measures of performance, using an empirical sample of 49 incubators drawn from the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Results indicate that university affiliated incubators were able to secure higher levels of funding from diverse sources during growth, utilising a service mix focused on external networking and had higher levels of subjective and objective measures of performance relative to non-university affiliated incubators.

Keywords: business incubators; Brazil; incubator affiliation; incubator funding; incubator performance; incubator service profiles; local innovation; global incubation models; university affiliated incubators; non-university affiliated incubators; formal links; formal ties; external partners; inception; growth; value added services; subjective performance measures; objective performance measures; external networking.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2014.065678

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2014 Vol.23 No.4, pp.436 - 455

Published online: 15 Nov 2014 *

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