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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.

This study uses a qualitative research methodology to study the role of BI in creation and growing of start-ups in Portugal and Brazil.

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.

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.

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.

This study aims to add to the existing body of knowledge the link between market structures, strategy and innovation by applying the diagnostic test of the integrated model of innovation, and also present the results of an empirical study applied to tourism in a small open economy. The study uses an archetype and the market outcome resulting from the innovation strategies pursued to compare similarities and differences according to a firms’ geographical location to identify innovative patterns in tourism firms.

The study applies a multivariate analysis using a data set consisting of survey responses from 158 Portuguese firms.

The findings indicate links between service, market structures and innovation strategies considering geographical agglomeration of firms in a small economy, and also different innovation trajectories and positions in the model.

The results of this study are generalizable to a dynamic industry context of tourism firms operating in a small open economy, such as Portugal.

The results suggest that managers need to attend to intangible resources, such as marketing and human resources and their links with innovation and performance, particularly in the case of service firms.

The paper highlights the role of intangible resources, especially marketing and human resources, in tourism firms. Geographical location also influences the firm’s strategy and results.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effectiveness of entrepreneurship training programmes targeting post‐graduate students.

The approach takes the form of a case study of an entrepreneurship training programme, to assess its effectiveness. For this purpose the paper concentrates on the number of firms created and industries chosen by individuals. Additionally, attention is focused on non‐starters, analysing the main reasons behind the decision not to set up a firm. Several sources were used to accomplish the objectives: an assessment report provided by the deliverers of the programme, an interview with the person responsible for the programme and interviews with programme participants.

Two editions of the programme “Começar” are closely scrutinized, including a self‐assessment made by developers of the programme. Results show a success rate of 41 per cent, but non‐starters benefit from the competencies developed in the programme, allowing them to change their careers or to increase their effectiveness in the labour market.

The paper presents some limitations. First, this programme is not compared at the same level of analysis, against others. The literature concludes that the entrepreneurial context is relevant in assessing the level of entrepreneurship. Second, a control group who had an idea but did not benefit from entrepreneurship assistance is not followed. Third, the timeframe of analysis is not too long. A longitudinal study will overcome this problem.

The case study can help promoters to design more effective programmes, especially those targeted at postgraduates. Combining classes with experience in the field could help young graduates to overcome their vulnerability which is due to their youthfulness and lack of work experience.

The paper identifies good practice in entrepreneurship training programmes. Additionally, it analyses the effectiveness of these programmes, measured by perceived effectiveness from the point of view of participants and by the number of firms created, an area so far characterized by scant research.