The role of business incubators for start-ups development in Brazil and Portugal
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/WJEMSD-05-2015-0023 |
| Published date | 12 October 2015 |
| Date | 12 October 2015 |
| Pages | 256-267 |
| Author | Luisa Margarida Cagica Carvalho,Simone Vasconcelos Galina |
| Subject Matter | Strategy,Business ethics,Sustainability |
The role of business incubators
for start-ups development in
Brazil and Portugal
Luisa Margarida Cagica Carvalho
Departamento de Ciências Sociais e de Gestão (DCSG),
Universidade Aberta, Lisboa, Portugal, and
Simone Vasconcelos Galina
Faculdade de Economia, Contabilidade e Administração,
Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to present a comparative study about features, services and
networks offered by business incubators (BI) to encourage start-ups development in Portugal and
Brazil. Recently, these countries have revealed several cases of well-developed entrepreneurial
ecosystems and Brazil receive a special position on Latin America; besides comparative studies
between European and Latin American countries are scarce.
Design/methodology/approach –This study uses a qualitative research methodology to study the
role of BI in creation and growing of start-ups in Portugal and Brazil.
Findings –The results do not reveal particular differences between Brazilian and Portuguese BI,
except in international profile of tenants; in Portugal, probably due the market size, most of the firms
born global or intend to internationalize.
Research limitations/implications –The BI results depend on the wide services provided,
networking platforms and support provided by BI staff individually to their tenants. These remarks
provide some clues to develop public policies suitable to entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Originality/value –BI have a special role on supporting start-ups creation and growth and to
provide technology transfer. They are also considered as a key element to guarantee entrepreneurial
ecosystems in a regional level, this research provide some contributes based on a case study with eight
interviews in Portugal and Brazil, and compare for the first time these two countries with similar
culture but with different levels of development.
Keywords Entrepreneurship, Business
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
Some regional studies suggest divergences in economic performance between cities
based on the differences of entrepreneurship (Acs and Armington, 2004) and reinforce
the role of the entrepreneurship on the creation of social cohesion by empowering
people in risk of social exclusion and by solving social problems not covered by the
public sector ( Jiménez Escobar and Morales Gutiérrez, 2011). Business incubation
can also be viewed as a public policy tool (Holtz-Eakin et al., 1994) and facilitator of the
territorial cohesion ( Jiménez Escobar and Morales Gutiérrez, 2011; Wonglimpiyarat,
2014). Despite the proliferation of business incubators (BI), their effectiveness and value
contribution is disputed (Schwartz, 2013). Some approaches referred the difficulty in
evaluating the actual value of incubation and the networking activities for start-ups
(Aerts et al., 2007), as well as the lack of compromise about the measurement of the
value dimensions relating to incubators (Ahmad and Ingle, 2011). In general it is
possible to assume the role of the BI as entrepreneurship promoters. However, studies
World Journal of
Entrepreneurship, Management
and Sustainable Development
Vol. 11 No. 4, 2015
pp. 256-267
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2042-5961
DOI 10.1108/WJEMSD-05-2015-0023
Received 13 May 2015
Revised 9 June 2015
Accepted 16 June 2015
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2042-5961.htm
256
WJEMSD
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