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International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal

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04-01-2020

Entrepreneurial ecosystems and the lifecycle of university business incubators: An integrative case study

Authors: Charlene L. Nicholls-Nixon, Dave Valliere, Steven A. Gedeon, Sean Wise

Published in: International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal | Issue 2/2021

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Abstract

University business incubators (UBIs) are an important part of the ecosystem that supports entrepreneurial activities and economic development. Extant research has focused on examining UBI activities at a single point in time, but there is a paucity of theoretical and empirical work aimed at understanding the forces that explain why and how UBIs change over time. This is an important gap because establishing a university business incubator does not assure its development and growth. We address this issue by drawing upon the Fisher et al. Academy of Management Review, 41(3), 383-409 (2016) Identity-Legitimacy-Life Cycle model to explain how the pursuit of resources and organizational legitimacy shapes the development of UBIs along key strategic and operational dimensions, which has implications for performance evaluation over time. We illustrate with a case study about the creation and evolution of the DMZ, a leading UBI at Ryerson University in Canada. This case provides new insights about the dynamics of UBIs and their relationships with the entrepreneurial ecosystems in which they are embedded. Implications for future research, management practice, and public policy are discussed.

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Title: Entrepreneurial ecosystems and the lifecycle of university business incubators: An integrative case study
Authors: Charlene L. Nicholls-Nixon
Dave Valliere
Steven A. Gedeon
Sean Wise
Publication date: 04-01-2020
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal / Issue 2/2021
Print ISSN: 1554-7191
Electronic ISSN: 1555-1938
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-019-00622-4

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