A Control Group Study of Incubators’ Impact to Promote Firm Survival
Michael Schwartz
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 7,
2010
Abstract
For more than half a century, publicly funded business incubators (BIs) are at the heart of urban and regional technology and innovation policies. However, it is widely unclear as to whether start-up firms supported by publicly-initiated incubator initiatives have higher survival rates than comparable start-up firms that have not received support by such initiatives. The present article contributes to the underlying discussion by performing an empirical analysis of the long-term survival of 371 incubator firms (after their graduation) from five German BIs and contrasting these results with the long-term survival of a control group of 371 comparable non-incubated firms. The analysis covers a 10-year time span. For neither of the five incubator locations, we find statistically significant higher survival probabilities for firms located in incubators compared to firms located outside those incubator organizations. For three incubator locations the analysis even reveals statistically significant lower chances of survival for those start-ups receiving support by an incubator. We therefore arrive at the conclusion that being located in an incubator does not increase the chances of long-term business survival.
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Organization and Financing of Innovation, and the Choice between Corporate and Independent Venture Capital
Paolo Fulghieri, Merih Sevilir
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis,
No. 6,
2009
Abstract
This paper examines the impact of competition on the optimal organization and financing structures in innovation-intensive industries. We show that as an optimal response to competition, firms may choose external organization structures established in collaboration with specialized start-ups where they provide start-up financing from their own resources. As the intensity of the competition to innovate increases, firms move from internal to external organization of projects to increase the speed of product innovation and to obtain a competitive advantage with respect to rival firms in their industry. We also show that as the level of competition increases, firms provide a higher level of financing for externally organized projects in the form of corporate venture capital (CVC). Our results help explain the emergence of organization and financing arrangements such as CVC and strategic alliances, where large established firms organize their projects in collaboration with external specialized firms and provide financing for externally organized projects from their own internal resources.
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Ende der 'Gemischtwarenläden': Spezialisierung von Technologie- und Gründerzentren als Option kommunaler Wirtschaftsförderung
Michael Schwartz, Christoph Hornych
List Forum für Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik,
2009
Abstract
In the context of policy measures that focus on the promotion of entrepreneurship and innovative start-ups on the level of cities and municipalities, since the beginning of the 21st century, there is an explicit tendency to establish a new type of business incubators and technology centers. These support facilities focus their support infrastructure and processes on firms from one specific sector and its particular needs. In Germany, since 1999, nearly one-third of all new business incubators opened with a sector-specific focus. Despite the continuously increasing importance of such specialized business incubators in local and regional development strategies, there is no analysis of these support facilities. On the basis of the key principles of business incubation functionality, supplemented by recent findings of incubator/ incubation research, this article investigates the evolution of this incubator concept in Germany, its regional distribution and describes the benefits to firms of being part of a specialized incubator. Moreover, this article details what are the general conditions and requirements for the long-term success of specialized business incubation initiatives.
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Getting out of the ivory tower – New perspectives on the entrepreneurial university
Jutta Günther, Kerstin Wagner
European Journal of International Management,
2008
Abstract
Based on theoretical considerations about the ‘third mission’ of
universities and the discussion of different types of university-industry relations, we conclude that the entrepreneurial university is a manifold institution with direct
mechanisms to support the transfer of technology from academia to industry
as well as indirect mechanisms in support of new business activities via
entrepreneurship education. While existing literature usually deals with one or
another linking mechanism separately, our central hypothesis is that direct and
indirect mechanisms should be interrelated and mutually complementary. We
emphasise the importance of a more holistic view of the entrepreneurial university
and empirically investigate the scope and interrelatedness of direct technology
transfer mechanisms and indirect mechanisms, such as entrepreneurship education
at German universities. We find a variety of activities in both fields and most
universities’ technology transfer facilities and the providers of entrepreneurship
education co-operate in support of innovative start-ups.
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Business Incubators in Eastern Germany: Positive Interim Results
Michael Schwartz
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 12,
2007
Abstract
Business incubators (BIs) are local technology and innovation policy measures that have attracted a great deal of attention by cities and municipalities in Eastern Germany. The enthusiasm of local-policy makers has led to a current number of nearly 130 incubator organizations in Eastern Germany. The article is based on a wider research project that focuses on the evaluation of the effectiveness of five BIs in Eastern Germany. In this article, three key issues of BI-effectiveness are concerned: the incubation time of client and graduate companies, the technological competence of supported firms and the share of newly founded firms in the BIs. Empirical results are positive concerning the indicators incubation time and the share of start-ups in the BIs. Deficiencies of the five BIs are found regarding the technological competence of the supported firms. The article concludes with a short outlook on future research questions.
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Getting out of the Ivory Tower - New Perspectives on the Entrepreneurial University
Jutta Günther, Kerstin Wagner
Discussion Papers on Entrepreneurship and Innovation 2/2007,
No. 2,
2007
Abstract
Based on theoretical considerations about the “third mission” of universities and the discussion of the nature of different university-industry relations, we conclude that the entrepreneurial university is a manifold institution with direct ways to transfer technology from academia to industry as well as indirect connections to industry via entrepreneurship education and training. While existing literature usually deals with one or another linking mechanism separately, our central hypothesises is that direct and indirect mechanisms should be interrelated and mutually complementary. We emphasize the importance of a more holistic view and empirically investigate the scope and interrelatedness of entrepreneurship education and direct technology transfer mechanisms at German universities. We find a variety of activities in both fields and evidence for an identification of HEI with the mission of knowledge commercialisation. Furthermore, it shows that the HEIs’ technology transfer facilities and the entrepreneurship education providers co-operate in support of the creation of spin-offs and innovative start-ups.
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Ten years of entrepreneurship education in Germany: a positive interim result
Jutta Günther, Kerstin Wagner, Ilka Ritter
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
No. 9,
2007
Abstract
Innovative business start-ups are an essential component and an expression of dynamic economic development. Nevertheless, start-ups do not emerge in a vacuum but require an appropriate institutional framework. Therefore, the topic of entrepreneurial education attracts gradually more interest of German universities since the 1990s. In 1997, the first professorship for this subject was announced and the number of respective chairs is rising ever since. The present article draws a balance by asking: To what extend and with which contents entrepreneurship education is currently offered at colleges and universities? What are the contents of teaching and what teaching manuals are dominant? To what extend are universities endowed with an infrastructure for commercializing knowledge complementary to their education? Are professorships and technology transfer centers of universities cooperatively aligned? These and further questions about the entrepreneurial education as part of academic technology transfer will be addressed in this article. Overall, a positive development regarding the range of teaching as well as the embedding in the overarching theme of technology transfer is recognizable. However, further efforts appear to be required, so that the in principle positive assessments can only form a first interim balance on the way towards “More enterprise start-ups out of university”.
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