Recruitment and support processes in sustainability-profiled incubators have received little research attention. The article addresses this knowledge gap in an empirical investigation of three sustainability-oriented incubators in Sweden, Finland and Germany. The data are based on interviews with managers, stakeholders and tenants in Green Tech Park (Sweden), LADEC (Finland) and Green Garage (Germany). On average, the studied incubators had an ambition to recruit and develop sustainability-oriented start-ups, but the number of tenants must reach a critical mass if such ambitions are to become a reality. The local context influences this critical mass of start-ups and is a determining factor in generating (a) potential tenants and (b) the resources to support such firms. This suggests that incubator managers must actively seek tenants interested in sustainable entrepreneurship and that support must focus on activities in sustainability.
AertsKMatthyssensPVandenbemptK (2007) Critical role and screening practices of European business incubators. Technovation27: 254–267.
2.
AllenDNRahmanS (1985) Small business incubators: a positive environment for entrepreneurship. Journal of Small Business Management23(3): 12–22.
3.
AutioEKlofstenM (1998) A comparative study of two European business incubators. Journal of Small Business Management36(1): 30–43.
4.
BergekANorrmanC (2008) Incubator best practice: A framework. Technovation28: 20–28.
5.
BizzottoCEN (2003) The Incubation Process.Gene Institute – FundaçãoUniversidade Regional de Blumenau Santa Catarina – Brazil, September 2003.
6.
BledaMdel RíoP (2013) The market failure and the systemic failure rationales in technological innovation systems. Research Policy42: 1039–1052.
7.
BoonsFMontalvoCQuistJ. (2013) Sustainable innovation, business models and economic performance: An overview. Journal of Cleaner Production45: 1–8.
8.
CammarataK (2003) Self-Evaluation Workbook for Business Incubators. Athens: National Business Incubation Association.
9.
CarayannisEGVon ZedtwitzM (2005) Architecting gloCal (global–local), real–virtual incubator networks (G-RVINs) as catalysts and accelerators of entrepreneurship in transitioning and developing economies: Lessons learned and best practices from current development and business incubation practices. Technovation25(2): 95–110.
10.
ChanKFLauT (2005) Assessing technology incubator programs in the science park: The good, the bad and the ugly. Technovation25(10): 1215–1228.
11.
CohenBWinnMI (2007) Market imperfections, opportunity and sustainable entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing22: 29–49.
12.
Colbert C and National Business Incubation Association. (2010). Best Practices in Action: Guidelines for Implementing First-Class Business Incubation Programs. Saline: NBIA Publications.
13.
CreswellJW (2009) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks and London: Sage.
14.
EverettJWatsonJ (1998) Small business failure and external risk factors. Small Business Economics11(4): 371–390.
15.
FichterKFuad-LukeAKlofstenM. (2013) Support Systems for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Transformation (SHIFT). Work Package 1: Theoretical Foundation. Berlin, Linköping and Aalto: SHIFT.
16.
FonsecaSAChiappetta JabbourCJ (2012) Assessment of business incubators’ green performance: A framework and its application to Brazilian cases. Technovation32: 122–132.
17.
GeelsFW (2011) The multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions: responses to seven criticisms. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions1(1): 24–40.
18.
GioiaDACorleyKGHamiltonAL (2013) Seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research notes on the Gioia methodology. Organizational Research Methods161: 15–31.
19.
HackettSMDiltsDM (2004) A systematic review of business incubation research. Journal of Technology Transfer29(1): 55–82.
20.
HansenMTChesbroughHWNohriaN. (2000) Networked incubators: Hothouses of the new economy. Harvard Business Review78(5): 74–84.
21.
HjelmO (2011) The simple methodology for supporting innovations in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency. In World Renewable Energy Congress – Sweden, Vol. 10: Policy Issues, Linköping, Sweden, 8–13 May, 2011. Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press.
22.
JaffeABNewellRGStavinsRN (2005) A tale of two market failures: Technology and environmental policy. Ecological Economics54(2–3): 164–174.
23.
KandaWHjelmOBienkowskaD (2014) Boosting eco-innovation: the role of public support organizations. In XXV ISPIM Conference on Innovation for Sustainable Economy and Society, Dublin, Ireland, 8–11 June 2014.
24.
KempRPearsonP (2007) Final Report MEI Project About Measuring Eco-Innovation. Maastricht: UM Merit.
25.
KlofstenMMikaelssonA-S (1996) Support of small business firms: entrepreneurs’ view of the demand and supply side. Journal of Enterprising Culture4(4): 417–432.
26.
KlofstenMBienkowskaDLaurI. (2015) Success factors in cluster initiative management: Mapping out the “big five”. Industry and Higher Education29(2): 65–77.
27.
KyröP (2015) Handbook of Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development Research. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
28.
LaurIKlofstenMBienkowskaD (2012) Catching regional development dreams: a study of cluster initiatives as intermediaries. European Planning Studies20: 1909–1921.
29.
LewisDAHarper-AndersonEMolnarLA (2011) Incubating success: incubation best practices that lead to successful new ventures. Ann Arbor: Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy, University of Michigan.
30.
LumpkinJRIrelandRD (1988) Screening practices of new business incubators: the evaluation of critical success factors. American Journal of Small Business12(4): 59–81.
31.
MacmillanICSiegelRNarasimhaPS (1985) Criteria used by venture capitalists to evaluate new venture proposals. Journal of Business Venturing1(1): 119–128.
32.
MianSA (1996) The university business incubator: a strategy for developing new research/technology-based firms. Journal of High Technology Management Research7(2): 191–208.
33.
NorrmanC (2008) Entrepreneurship Policy: Public Support for Technology-Based Ventures. Linköping: Linköping University Electronic Press.
34.
PetersLRiceMSundararajanM (2004) The role of incubators in the entrepreneurial process. Journal of Technology Transfer29(1): 83–91.
35.
PhanPHSiegelDSWrightM (2005) Science parks and incubators: observations, synthesis and future research. Journal of Business Venturing20(2): 165–182.
36.
RenningsK (2000) Redefining innovation: Eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics. Ecological Economics32(2): 319–332.
37.
RíoPDPeñascoCRomero-JordánD (2015) What drives eco-innovators? A critical review of the empirical literature based on econometric methods. Journal of Cleaner Production112(4): 2158–2170.
38.
RobsonC (1993) Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers. Oxford: Blackwell.
39.
ShaneSVenkataramanS (2000) The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Academy of Management Review25: 217–226.
40.
StridM (2006) Rum för Entreprenörskap. En studie av universitetsbaserade företagsinkubatorer i Västsverige. Gothenburg: Chalmers University of Technology.
41.
VoiseyPGornallLJonesP. (2005) Developing a model for a “ladder of incubation” linked to higher and further education institutions in Wales. Industry and Higher Education19(6): 445–456.
42.
Von ZedtwitzMGrimaldiR (2006) Are service profiles incubator-specific? Results from an empirical investigation in Italy. Journal of Technology Transfer31(4): 459–468.
43.
YinRK (2008) Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks and London: Sage.
