Business Incubators and Regional Innovation Performance

: Evidence from China

Abstract

This study focuses on an innovation debatable player, namely business incubators. The Chinese government has advocated Innovation-driven development since 2006 (Li et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2020). Information from the Ministry of Science and Technology shows that the number of business incubators in China had been about 4069 (Wang et al., 2020). Thus, China provides an important case to explore the link between the development of business incubators and regional innovation performance. This study further examines the role of different density development levels and capacities of
business incubators in fostering innovation performance at the regional level. Although the role of communication infrastructure has been seen as critical within the regional innovation system, few studies have considered the impact of communication infrastructure on regional innovation performance in emerging economies, such as China. Moreover, the moderation role of communication infrastructure on the relationship between business incubators capacities and innovation performance has received considerably less attention despite its recognised role as an essential element of the regional innovation system.
In examining this relationship, this thesis empirically analyses the impact of business incubators density and capacities using a balanced panel dataset for 31 provincial-level regions from China over the period 2008-2017. This thesis adds to the growing literature from recent years on regional innovation and the development of business incubators. The contribution of this thesis is fourfold: First, this thesis adds insights to the literature on regional innovation and business incubators by simultaneously studying the mutualism and competition relationship between business incubators and regional innovation performance. Second, this thesis also explores the impact of business incubators' basic, finance and incubation capacities on regional innovation performance. This study develops the argument for the vital role of business incubators
capacities facilitating China’s regional innovation performance, extending their
influence on regional innovation and business incubators literature. Third, our result identifies situations in which communication infrastructure contributes to regional innovation performance in China. Thus, our study enriches the literature on regional innovation by demonstrating how the communication infrastructure influences regional innovation performance. Fourth, this study enriches and give a better understanding of regional innovation system theory by identifying the critical moderation role of 5 communication infrastructure on the relationship between capacities of business incubators and regional innovation performance

Date of Award	Jun 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Coventry University
Supervisor	Senmao Xia (Supervisor), Gideon Maas (Supervisor) & Esin Yoruk (Supervisor)