This insightful and comprehensive Research Handbook explores the concept of start-up incubation ecosystems and investigates the various factors that interact to provide a nurturing environment suitable for the creation and successful development of start-ups.

Contents: Preface xi Introduction: Helping birds to fly: Introducing start-up incubation ecosystems 1 Adam Novotny, Einar Rasmussen, Tommy H. Clausen, and Johan Wiklund PART I HOLISTIC APPROACHES TO SUPIEs 1 The role of smart specialization in providing regional strategic support for establishing sustainable start-up incubation ecosystems 19 Nhien Nguyen, Åge Mariussen, and Jens Ø. Hansen 2 Incubating start-ups in entrepreneurial ecosystems: A multilevel perspective on entrepreneurial resources 40 Shruti Sardeshmukh, Allan O’Connor, and Ronda Smith 3 The domains of entrepreneurship support 60 Tiago Ratinho 4 In support of university spinoffs – what drives the organizational design of technology transfer ecosystems? 74 Matthew Good and Mirjam Knockaert 5 The support system’s influence on nature-based business start-ups in a rural context 94 Jorunn Grande and Espen Carlsson 6 Transnational entrepreneurial ecosystems: The perspectives of Finnish and Estonian born-global start-ups 110 Hannes Velt, Lasse Torkkeli, and Sami Saarenketo 7 A contingency approach to the incubation of new ventures in entrepreneurial ecosystems: Descriptive exploratory plots for continuous and survival outcomes 135 Alan R. Johnson, Katherine E. Masyn, and Alexander McKelvie PART II START-UP SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS 8 Organizational sponsorship: An overview of the state of knowledge and future research directions 174 Marit Breivik-Meyer 9 Understanding startup development organizations in the context of startup incubation ecosystems 194 Cristiano Bellavitis, Michael Sargent, and Carlos M. DaSilva 10 Distinguishing self-sufficient business incubators in start-up incubation ecosystems 206 Oliver Straub, Peter M. Bican, and Alexander Brem 11 Incubators’ coopetition strategy in the start-up incubation ecosystem 224 Christina Theodoraki and Karim Messeghem 12 A comparative analysis of USA enterprise support organizations for conscious capitalism and conventional capitalism 239 Kerul Kassel, Shelley F. Mitchell, and Guénola Abord-Hugon Nonet 13 Incubation and founders’ champion behaviour 254 Are Jensen, Nhien Nguyen, and Jens Ø. Hansen 14 Multinational companies’ roles in start-up incubation ecosystems: The case of Microsoft Innovation Centers in Brazil 273 Nadja Nordling, Elisa Thomas, Rhiannon Pugh, and Roberto Rivas Hermann 15 Outsider support, firm births and outcomes 285 Lars Kolvereid and Espen J. Isaksen PART III UNIVERSITY-BASED SUPIEs 16 Bridging or isolating? The role of the university Technology Transfer Office in the start-up incubation ecosystem 299 Adam Novotny 17 The key drivers for emergence of an entrepreneurial ecosystem – the role of brokerage, role models and inspiration 319 Karolina Lesniak and Roger Sørheim 18 Toward a model for universities as incubation ecosystems: Facilitating students for an entrepreneurial career 335 B.W. Åmo, I.B. Pettersen, E. van der Lingen, K. Voldsund, and J.J. Bragelien 19 Individual-level determinants of academic patent licensing to start-ups: impacts of principal investigators’ embeddedness in the industry 349 Dolores Modic and Tohru Yoshioka-Kobayashi 20 The university ecosystem and the internationalization of spin-off firms 366 Eva Jenny B. Jørgensen and Adam Novotny 21 The academic entrepreneurship ecosystem: The role of the university for societal impact of academic spin-offs 381 Anders Billström 22 Urban universities as a start-up ecosystem: The case of academic spin-offs in Milan 402 Matteo Landoni 23 Motivating universities to support spin-off firms: Stakeholders and start-up incubation ecosystems 418 Einar Rasmussen, Paul Benneworth, and Magnus Gulbrandsen Index 435

'This book successfully narrows down the broad concept of ''ecosystems'' and focuses on a more delineated context that surrounds firms when they start learning how to become independent by using available resources in their proximate environment. Readers can learn not only about SUPIEs as a multilayered system but can also indulge in exploring the effective functioning of their essential parts, such as incubators, accelerators, universities and of course start-up and spin-off firms.' --Rosa Grimaldi, University of Bologna, Italy