Value Creation of Business Incubator Functions: Economic and Social Sustainability in the COVID-19 Scenario

Abstract

Spain has encouraged support to sustain entrepreneurs in the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, the usefulness of the functions of business incubators regarding the social benefits derived from enhancing the sustainability of the entrepreneurial ecosystem is studied in the context of the COVID-19 scenario. Due to the lack of academic literature on the subject, an analysis based on the application of structural equation models (SEMs) has been carried out using a theoretical framework built and empirically validated using a representative sample of Spanish entrepreneurs. The results show that, according to stakeholders, the functionalities of business incubators were oriented to drive entrepreneurial initiatives to have highly positive effects on society. This research evidences that business incubators are key mechanisms to make entrepreneurship, growth and economic development more sustainable in society.

Exploring the Relationship between the Entrepreneurship Motive and Value Creation in Business Incubators

“…Business incubators have a positive impact on the promotion of the growth and economic development of society according to the opinion of entrepreneurs with the necessary resources to start their business. As mentioned by Hansen, Ches-brough, Nohria, and Sull [49]; Blanco et al [31]; Manigart and Sapienza [50]; Funcas [4,7,34]; GEM [12,51]; and INE [10], this increases the survival rate of companies during their first years of life by minimizing the costs at the beginning of their activity and providing advice and followup during incubation and when they graduate [2,31,34,50] and by contributing to the generation of employment of both a salaried and self-employment nature [7,10,12,34,49,51].…”

“…Hence, indepth study of this profile and the creation of adequate ecosystems to promote this role are necessary. Similarly, business incubators are critical elements for developing and sustaining an efficient entrepreneurial ecosystem [2][3][4][5][6]. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to explore how entrepreneurs value the different socio-economic benefits of business incubators for different reasons.…”

“…Instead, they provide support to entrepreneurs throughout the process, from the moment they enter the incubator until they leave it, helping them to create business ideas; select the most suitable one; carry out paperwork and administrative procedures; and train, mentor, and search for financing through all possible routes [4,7]. In a previous investigation, the functionalities of business incubators were analyzed according to their different socio-economic benefits [2].…”

“…Although entrepreneurship and its relationship with economic and social growth have previously been studied in a broad and general way [4][5][6][15][16][17], there is a shortage of works that have focused on the economic and social sustainability capacity of incubators from the perspective of entrepreneurs [2][3][4].…”

Psychological Well-Being Sustainable during Entrepreneurial Process—The Moderating Role of Entrepreneurial Creativity

“…In the future, comparative studies across countries will be conducted. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted new entrepreneurial opportunities and psychological well-being [57] in different national contexts. The global comparisons will allow us to conduct a closer and more precise analysis of psychological well-being and creativity education for student entrepreneurs.…”