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This article aims to conduct a bibliometric study using structural and relational approaches amongst the extracted documents and investigates the connections between business incubation and entrepreneurship-related papers to describe the field comprehensively.

A total of 259 articles have been retrieved from Scopus database in order to conduct the bibliometric analysis. Performance analysis and science mapping techniques of bibliometrics have been used along with data visualisation software, i.e. VOSviewer and RStudio. The network collaboration and intellectual structures, i.e. bibliographic coupling, co-occurrence analysis, word cloud and trending topics, have been presented to identify the field’s latest trends, themes and development.

The findings highlight annual publication trends, including the most frequently cited articles, the most productive authors, countries and highly influential journals that contribute the most to the said field. The intellectual structures have been developed to identify research themes and trends by running co-occurrence analysis and bibliographic coupling. The findings of this study emphasize the value of technology transfer, mentorship programmes, entrepreneurship education and an emphasis on innovation and creativity through entrepreneurial universities and academia. These findings provide policymakers and administrative officials with crucial guidance for fortifying the pillars of entrepreneurship and education for the comprehensive development of the economy. Further, this article attempts to identify the most influential and relevant publications as well as the newest trends in the area of business incubation in combination with entrepreneurship.

The article contributes not only to broaden the scope of knowledge on the said research discipline but also to comprehend how the field has evolved over a period of time. This study also attracts the interest of scholars/academicians, leading to the significant production of scholarly documents in business incubation and entrepreneurship.

The field of entrepreneurship and business incubation is one of the important pillars for the growth and development of the economy. This piece contributes to this arena by focusing on the areas that must be taken care of by developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem and fostering the progress of startups. The fundamentals of this research highlight the importance of mentorship programs, entrepreneurship education, technology transfer and a focus on innovation and creativity through entrepreneurial education and efforts by universities/academia, giving an important direction to the policymakers and administration for strengthening the pillar of entrepreneurship and education for the holistic development of the economy.

Business incubation is an emerging field of academic research connected to startups, venture formation and entrepreneurship ecosystems, making it a potential scholarly discipline. This study presents a thorough bibliometric analysis over the last three decades, offering comprehensive details on the most significant developments in the field of business incubation. Moreover, the various analytical methods applied to this study make it more attractive.

The aim of this study was to discuss the historical evolution of business incubators from 1959 to the present. Three cohort periods were defined: 1959-1979, 1980-1999 and 2000-2012. The business characteristics of corporate mission, plans and strategies, leadership/management, staff competence and expertise, facilities and resources and technology were described for each generation.

The approach of this research was to gain an understanding of potential best practices and study what has been characteristically significant in small business incubators over the past 50 years.

The historical study findings indicate that the basic premise of business incubators remained unchanged across time. The idea of nurturing a new and fledgling business until it can manage on its own, much like an incubator does for premature and newborn babies, still provides the impetus for business incubators today. However, business characteristics have evolved and grown more sophisticated over the years in response to situational and contextual forces. Certain characteristics have been retained, while others have undergone change.

In light of the discussion in this research, it is clear that comprehensive and systematic historical review from literature on small business incubators reveals that past incubators have provided many lessons for future models. The model has evolved dramatically but questions still revolve around the current state, and what is essential for future models.

Although various models have been developed to explain the trajectories of such growth, it is clear that access to a network of business and financial forms of support, patented knowledge creation, and inter-firm partnerships are crucial.

The value of this research is it defines three periods in small business incubator history in the USA defining what are consistent best practices for success. In addition, this research concerning small business incubators serves as a clear comprehensive and systematic historical review from literature revealing that past incubators have provided many lessons for future models.

The paper seeks to explore the importance of a sample of New Zealand farmers' markets in providing a supportive setting for the take‐off as well as the decline stage of the small business life cycle, with a view to identifying factors that may enhance rural small business survivability.

The task was achieved by use of a combination of interviews and case studies. A list of new generation farmers' markets was compiled. Managers from four of these markets were interviewed to identify the possible existence of businesses that had been fostered by, but had now outgrown, the market. Four incubated businesses were selected from one of the longer established markets. From a more recently established market, 18 stallholders were selected for examination of their attitudes towards the market as a nurturing environment in relation to the life‐cycle stage of the business. Data were analysed using qualitative techniques of theme identification and analysis.

It was found that farmers' markets can have a role as small business incubators and safety nets, thus enhancing the survival chances of rural small businesses. This may be particularly useful where dwindling government subsidies and growing supermarket power result in declining incomes and reduced outlets for small‐scale farmers and rural producers.

The research findings are limited by the non‐random nature of the sampling procedure. In such an exploratory study, the main emphasis was on establishing the existence of the incubator and safety net functions. Further research is needed to establish the extent of these roles.

The research investigates a relatively unique setting of an unsubsidised agricultural sector.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the characteristics of the incubation industry, government funding, and the intensity of funding for different services. Because the incubation industry has particular characteristics, government funding varies for different services, and its intensity varies with service.

Government funding is classified as incubation subsidy and incubation incentive. Besides, incubation services include property management, business mentoring as well as investment and financing. Based on this, this study examines the influence mechanism of different subsidy and incentive on incubation services by using the generalized propensity score matching method.

The empirical results show that subsidy and incentive have an inverse-U shape effect on property management service, but a linear effect on business guidance service. Furthermore, subsidy does not affect investment and financing service, but incentive that can have a significant impact.

The theme of government funding and incubator services plays an important role in helping entrepreneurs expand their businesses. Incubation subsidy and incentive can provide important support to help enterprises obtain more preferential loans, technical services and technical support in the incubator. Applying it to incubator services can provide better technology and entrepreneurship guidance. These services can help new entrepreneurs understand products and markets, and how to develop more successfully in the early stage. In short, incubators supported by government funds can provide important support to entrepreneurs to help them successfully realize their business plans.

The emerging concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems has captured the attention of scholars, practitioners and policymakers. Although studies on entrepreneurial ecosystems continue to grow, their contributions are still disintegrated. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of extant literature on entrepreneurial ecosystems and to develop a research agenda.

The study deployed a systematic literature review of 51 articles obtained from three comprehensive databases of Web of Science, Google Scholar and Scopus. The analysis includes two phases. First, a descriptive account of research on entrepreneurial ecosystems and second, a content analysis based on a thematic categorization of entrepreneurial ecosystems research.

The findings show that the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems is both under-theorized and it has been recently dominated by conceptual studies. The focus of empirical research is on technology-based industries in Western economies using cases studies as methodological approach.

This review contributes to the body of knowledge on entrepreneurial ecosystems research by providing a systematic review following a thematic grouping of extant research into antecedents, outputs and outcomes of entrepreneurial ecosystems.

It reveals existing theoretical and empirical gaps in research as well as offering avenues of future research on entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Purpose: This chapter uses the different models developed in international business and the international experience of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to propose efficient ways of confronting globalization.

Design/methodology/approach: The positive experience of SMEs in countries driven by the pursuit of efficiency and innovation was analyzed, taking into account the stages of the development of the country. Uniqueness, cooperation, coalition, and integration are the key to success in the global market, as illustrated by case studies.

Findings: Factor-driven SMEs have the choice of contract marketing based on specialization or of increasing efficiency and establishing various kinds of coalition or cooperation. Efficiency- and innovation-driven SMEs can improve their global position by offering some unique value, by participating in or initiating a coalition, or by establishing strategic alliances with a multinational corporation.

Practical implications: Analysis of case studies illustrating each model of globalization helps the SMEs in selecting a relevant international business strategy over time.

Originality/value: Each model of globalization is illustrated by SMEs that have successfully implemented it.

This paper seeks to explore the rationale for, and development of, farmers' markets in New Zealand. The paper is based on and extends previous industry reports.

The research in this paper is viewed in the context of the dominance of globalised business in the food production and retailing process. Semi‐structured interviews and case studies were used to elicit the opinions, perceptions and attitudes of market managers, producers/growers, and customers.

It was found in the paper that farmers' markets provide additional outlets for entrepreneurial small‐scale farmers and producers, alternatives for consumers, and opportunities for communities, while their rapid growth is presenting challenges for some large competitors.

The paper finds that farmers' markets may be an important harbinger of the second industrial revolution where there is renewed respect for those small‐scale producers who meet the needs of discerning consumers.

There are those who suggest the experiential and action-oriented nature of entrepreneurship makes traditional content-focused lecture a less appropriate pedagogical approach when teaching entrepreneurship courses. This chapter challenges such suggestions, arguing that the lecture should be the centerpiece of entrepreneurship education, augmented by experiential learning tools and other pedagogical approaches. Such a blended model, when built around the lecture, has the potential to greatly enhance learning, improve student retention, encourage student thought and reflection, and better develop entrepreneurial skills and competencies associated with the entrepreneurial mindset. The chapter also summarizes the nature of the content delivered through entrepreneurship courses, classifying this content into three general categories, and concluding that this core content is substantive, complex, and highly inter-related. These characteristics reinforce the importance of great lectures for moving entrepreneurship education forward.

The paper investigates the role of alliances in periods of industry transformation. It addresses the research question why firms ally in dynamic environments. This takes place with an interactive qualitative research design and fieldwork in the changing German health care sector between 2004 and 2007, primarily using qualitative longitudinal data from a focus group panel. From the theoretical side, the resource- and competence-based views have proven useful for alliance research. For our theory-driven investigation we applied the perspective of the competence-based theory of the firm and extended this view by insights from the Austrian School in order to cover developments on multiple levels of analysis in an integrated way.

On an aggregated level we elaborate a taxonomy of three categories reflecting motivations and alliance types against the background of industry transformation:(1)closing resource and competence gaps in so-called “gap-closing alliances,”(2)preparing for unexpected developments in so-called “option networks,” and(3)intending to proactively exert influence on the relevant business environment in so-called “steering alliances” as an alternative way to enhance fit.

For each alliance type, propositions are derived and validated. Summarizing the findings from a meta point of view, a twofold role of collaborative arrangements turned out: On the one hand agents are pushed into cooperation with others in order to manage change and uncertainty in transforming business environments. But on the other hand joint forces themselves act as an accelerator of industry transformation and thereby as a jolt to other economic agents.