Factors Affecting The Success of Incubators and The Moderating Role of Information and Communication Technologies

Abstract

Business incubators can help young firms to survive during their first years. They are considered to be an entrepreneurial and economic development instrument that can increase the creativity of new firms including small and mid-sized enterprises and that can support them in the early stage of development which is the most vulnerable stage of their existence. Small and mid-sized enterprises are crucial for enhancing innovation, productivity, competitiveness, social cohesion, and economic development in developed and developing countries. They are also crucial in minimizing unemployment; they create a lot of jobs and significant output in many countries. The economy in many developing countries, especially Arab countries, is in a critical state. The unemployment rate is very high and gross domestic product is very low compared to developed countries. Many types of success models have been proposed and used to measure the success and performance of business incubators in developed countries. However, a limited number of studies and success models have been published on this topic in the case of the developing world. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to propose a model using a combination of well-known and new success factors for business incubator success in developing countries.