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TECHNOVATION

SPECIAL ISSUE CALL FOR PAPERS

Technology Business Incubation Mechanisms

Historically, the modern business incubation movement started in 1959 with the establishment of the first formal incubator in New York. In 1979 David Birch highlighted the potential of innovative small firms in the growth of jobs and the vibrancy of national economies and this stimulated much research and debate and catalyzed the development of the incubation movement. In parallel the establishment of Stanford Industrial Park in 1951 led throughout the 1970s and 1980s to the introduction of more significant incubation infrastructure and mechanisms such as science parks and technology incubators. Much of this activity reflected a policy shift toward promoting academic entrepreneurship and commercialization of R&D results. Some of these regional efforts culminated in the development of innovative firm clusters, and to the coveted Silicon Valley phenomenon, envied around the world.

These key business incubation mechanisms/infrastructure elements continued to evolve and expand over the next several decades with steady increases in the numbers and type of models throughout the 1980s and beyond, first in the USA and then in Europe and elsewhere; today several thousand such facilities are operating around the globe (Mian 2011). However, there has been a dearth of theoretical frameworks available to assess how they are working and thereby improve their effectiveness (Mian, 1997, 2001, Rothaermel and Thursby, 2005). To take stock of progress in this field, assess past achievements and consider future direction, we argue that a comparative global experience and study of various incubation models and their progression over time will result in useful insights.

In order to assemble papers for this Special Issue we consider that one of the critical challenges for entrepreneurship researchers is to advance knowledge on the evolution of the role of incubation mechanisms in supporting science & technology based startups. We also need to improve our understanding of the characteristics of sustainable new generation models for business incubation (Mian, Fayolle, Lamine 2012) taking into account the supply and demand for services (Bruneel, Ratinho, Clarysse,  Groen, 2012) and consider what will be their value proposition in the future.

The Special Issue, therefore, seeks to publish leading edge original research that will contribute significantly to our knowledge and understanding of how infrastructure elements/mechanisms can support technology-oriented business incubation. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

·         Assessment of technology business incubation programs

·         New generation sustainable  incubation models

·         Demand and supply of technology incubation services

·         S&T parks and incubators as drivers of regional innovation ecosystems

·         University incubators and experiential entrepreneurship education

·         Research methodology and theory relating to technology incubation

·         International comparative studies

·         General versus specialized models

·         Technology business accelerators

·         Technology trampolines

·         Proof of concept centers

·         Technology incubator  mechanisms in emerging countries

Instructions for submitting papers

Original submissions (full papers) are due by April 30, 2014, and must be made via the Technovation submission system described at http://ees.elsevier.com/technovation . Authors should indicate that they would like their paper to be considered for the special issue on "Technology business incubation mechanisms". All papers selected as suitable for the Special Issue will undergo a double-blind peer review process; some papers may be referred for regular issues. The recommended maximum word count is 7500.

Further Information

For questions regarding the content of this special issue, please contact any of the following guest editors:

Sarfraz Mian: mian@oswego.edu  

Schedule:

30 April 2014: Deadline for submission of full papers. (Papers can be submitted at any time before this date and will be evaluated intermittently.).

30 September 2014. Deadline for final submission of revised papers

31 December 2014: Special Issue contents and publication date announced. (Publication expected early in 2015).