Role of Business Incubators as a Service Provider in Entrepreneurship Development

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is considered as a main pillar of economic structure and they have pivotal role in economic development, income generation, employment creation, poverty reduction and wealth creation. The history of business incubators (BI) dates back to the middle of the last century, when unemployment was high due to the great recession in the United States and the United Kingdom, leading to a major collapse of the industrial sectors. During this period, it was increasingly recognized that new strategies were needed to regenerate income levels in industries and increase entrepreneurial activity in economies. Therefore, this study aims to develop a conceptual model that examine the role of BIs in entrepreneurship development. Particularly, our focus is on the impact of services offered by BIs, namely networkingservices, capital support and training programs, on entrepreneurship development. Using 245 samples we used simple random sampling. Data were collected from business incubators, graduate and post graduate schools who received incubation training. Analysis was done using Partial least squares structural equation modelling. Empirical results reveal that networking services have a positive impact on entrepreneurship. Whereas, capital support has a positive impact on entrepreneurship development. Meanwhile, training programs has a positive impact on entrepreneurship development. Based on our quantitative findings, we conclude that our model is effective, in the sense that it can fully explain the role of the incubators in facilitating entrepreneurship. Hence, these services should be provided to a greater extent, and the level of other services should be improved to further help entrepreneurs in developed and developing countries to survive and develop entrepreneurship. The results of this study help policy makers to formulate policies to play the role of incubators and be more effective in promoting entrepreneurship and ultimately accumulating wealth in Pakistan.

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