Co-production of business assistance in business incubators: an exploratory study

Abstract

A business incubator — in collaboration with the community in which it operates — is a “producer” of business assistance programs. The entrepreneurial ventures located in an incubator, as “consumers” of those outputs, operate in an interdependent co-production relationship with the incubator. This study explores the types of business assistance provided through co-production, the modes of co-production, and factors that affect the variability of impact. The allocation of the time of the incubator manager, the intensity of intervention, the breadth of co-production modalities deployed, and the readiness of the entrepreneur to engage in co-production are revealed as factors affecting the output elasticities related to co-production inputs.