Mats Jutterström

This article investigates how business incubator support affects subsequent firm performance. We build on and extend a recent focus on organisational sponsorship mechanisms, applying the lens to business incubators. We first ask: Is there an overall effect of business incubator sponsorship on subsequent firm performance? Second, we ask: To what extent do the decisions of business incubator managers, in terms of allocating resources to start-up firms, impact the subsequent firm performance? We use a unique dataset consisting of the entire population of business incubators in Sweden and their start-ups from 2005 to 2015. Results indicate that business incubator sponsorship has a positive effect on firm performance, while the effects of various forms of sponsorship vary from large positive to neutral effects. Thus, we confirm earlier research on the positive effects of sponsorship and give input on how business managers can use sponsorship theory to provide more optimal resource allocation over time. It appears that coaching and legitimacy have more positive impact on firm level performance compared to other sponsoring activities. Sponsorship is a complex issue, meriting increased theoretical and managerial understanding of its forms and mechanisms. In this respect, our study of how the sponsorship activities of business incubators affect start-up performance complements and extends previous studies of how the effects of business incubator sponsorship depend on external contingencies..

In contrast to the main focus on market boundaries as spontaneous orders, this article investigates how and why market boundaries are ordered through organization. It proposes three elemental ordering processes – mutual adaptation, institutions, and organization – to conceptualise individual market boundary formation. Based on a longitudinal study of a financial market, the organization of both market demarcations and boundary constitution is analysed. It is illustrated how boundaries were subject to much organization and reorganization, to protect the market’s legitimacy and function. Explanations for the use of market boundary organization suggestively stem from both boundary competition and complementarity – to replace or reinforce boundaries formed by other ordering processes, in order to direct market content.