Performance of business incubators: a systematic review of evidence

Abstract

As a business incubator is located at the intersection of different actors (e. g. universities, governments, market), processes (e.g. entrepreneurship, innovation), micro and macro levels, investigate your performance is a great challenge for researchers. To understand what has already been done and the new paths to follow, here will be presented the state of the art of this topic in a systematic way. First, using bibliometric techniques. Second, analyzing the main contributions of the papers over the years. The results demonstrate an increase of interest in this topic, especially in the last 10 years. Using the tools of the Web of Science and some indexes (also suggesting a new one), relevant journals and routes for new research were identified. In addition to the greater presence of researchers from the United States of America (USA), Europe and Asia, it was also realized that many questions from the beginning continue today. The relationship with universities and research centers are great opportunities for further studies. Although network behavior is recognized as a relevant factor, many researches still present contradictory or ambiguous results. Delve deeper the dynamics of the incubation process, at each level of analysis, seems to be a more effective strategy for the research field progress.