Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Among our first steps was the establishment of a data base of business incubators in the United States. The directory of the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) contained 1115 names and served as starting point. We amended NBIAs list, weeding out non-incubator members and inactive or defunct incubators. The final data base contains 719 incubators. At this time it is one of the most trustworthy sources for information on the number and geographic distribution of business incubators. We presented a workshop held in Morgantown on 06/15/12, 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM. There was no charge for attending. Workshop participants included individuals representing the Erie, PA Technology Incubator at Gannon University, the National Business Incubation Association, and Riverside Center for Innovation in Pittsburgh. On 11/28/12 we held a one hour webinar about our research. The North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) at Michigan State University provided the technical support. Participation was free of charge and the recorded presentation is available on NCRCRDs website, also free of charge. Peak attendance at the webinar was 22 listeners/viewers. In the evaluation a majority (58%) reported that they had learned something new and that the information had changed their perspective. All research findings that are summarized in RRI working papers are available online to the public via the RRI website. Most findings published in refereed journals are also available online, although not all are available free of cost. A complete list of publications follows later. We also presented many conference papers to our research peers. Our research identified significant data collection weaknesses of business incubators that affect the quality of research and incubators ability to self-assess. For research, inconsistent methods for counting graduates pose an additional problem. As of December 2012 we have presented 13 different conference papers, in addition to the above-mentioned workshop and webinar. Four of those conference papers have been published in refereed/peer reviewed journal or proceedings. More papers are currently under review and in progress. PARTICIPANTS: On 06/15/12 we presented a workshop held in Morgantown. There was no charge for attending. Workshop participants included individuals representing the Erie, PA Technology Incubator at Gannon University, the National Business Incubation Association, and Riverside Center for Innovation in Pittsburgh. On 11/28/12 we presented a one hour webinar about our research. The North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) at Michigan State University provided the technical support. Participation was free of charge and the recorded presentation is available on NCRCRDs website, also free of charge. Peak attendance at the webinar was 22 listeners/viewers. In the evaluation a majority (58%) reported that they had learned something new and that the information had changed their perspective. TARGET AUDIENCES: On this project we have two distinct target audiences. One includes our peers at other universities or other research organizations, the other economic development practitioners and policy makers. Our publications, conferences presentations, workshop, and webinar were directed to these two target audiences. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: We did not modify the project. However, we did experience difficulties in getting access to data held by the Census Bureau. Specifically, we had underestimated the time required to be permitted access to the data, which are all confidential. Therefore, one part of the data analysis was only just beginning when the project funding reached its end. This data analysis is currently being conducted and publications and presentations from the results will be forthcoming.
Impacts
Our research identified a number of statistically significant and policy-relevant differences between incubators in CBSA vs. those located in OCBSA counties. We identified a few functions of rural business incubators, in particular, that we had not anticipated when we first started this project. We learned that for research and policy purposes, business incubators cannot be unambiguously identified because they overlap with other, related, business incubation and/or acceleration organizations. Our research provides new and more reliable insight into business incubators in the U.S., in general.
Publications
- Peter Schaeffer, Shaoming Cheng, and Mark Middleton, 2011. Incubators in Rural Environments: A Preliminary Analysis. In Karima Kourtit, Peter Nijkamp, and Roger Stough, editors, Drivers of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Regional Dynamics, Springer Verlag, Advances in Spatial Science: 271-290.
- RW Jackson, PV Schaeffer, M Middleton, Metro and Non-Metro Business Incubators: Similarities and Critical Differences. Paper presented at the Tinbergen Seminar, Amsterdam, June 2012. Regional Research Institute (RRI) Working Paper 2012-03. Submitted to Environment and Planning C.
- An Analysis of Best Practices in the Administration of Business Incubators, Mark Middleton, Randall W. Jackson, Peter V. Schaeffer, Annual Meetings of the Southern Regional Science Association, 2012. RRI Working Paper 2012-05
- Haifeng Qian, Kingsley E. Haynes and James Riggle, Incubation Push or Business Pull: Investigating the Geography of US Business Incubators. Economic Development Quarterly 2011, 25, 79-90.
- Shaoming Cheng and Peter V. Schaeffer, 2011 Evaluation without Bias: A Methodological Perspective of Performance Measures for Business Incubators. Revue Region et Developpement, 33, 1-14.
- Yu, JB, M Middleton, and R Jackson. (2010) Geography of Business Incubator Formation in the United States. Paper presented at the 73rd Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting. RRI Working Paper 2010-10.
- Yu, JB and P Nijkamp, 2009. Institutional and Methodological Challenges in the Use of Experimental Methods for the Evaluation of Business Incubators: Lessons from the US, EU and China. In Proceedings of the 2009 Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy, ed. Susan E. Cozzens and Pablo Catalan.
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