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Strategies in E-Business pp 39–54Cite as

Analyzing a Successful Incubator Business Model: The Case of Barcelona Activa

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Abstract

Successful business incubators have a critical role in the development of local, regional, and national economies through the creation of jobs and the generation of profits, technology development, and innovations. Business incubators are recent and popular organizational forms that are created, often with the help of economic development agencies, to support and accelerate the development and success of affiliated ventures. The chapter examines Barcelona Activa as a successful business incubator in Catalonia (Spain), analyzing the incubator’s supply and demand for products and services from the resource-based view approach. Empirically, the chapter is based on qualitative methodology analyzing in depth the case of Barcelona Activa. The findings of the study show that the incubator model’s adjustments between the supply and demand of products and services generated are the main reason for the low mortality rate of new firms and the substantial increase in incubators’ turnover. This research has important implications for both researchers and government agencies.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from Projects ECO2010-16760 (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation) and 2005SGR00858 (Catalan Government Department for Universities, Research and Information Society). Also, the authors acknowledge the support of Barcelona Activa to develop this research, especially Rosa Batet, Jaume Baró, Montse Basora, Elena del Rey, Mar Garcia, Josep Marquès, Anna Molero, Yolanda Pérez, Montse Rodríguez, Maravillas Rojo, and José Pedro Tarango.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. EAFIT University, Medellin, Colombia

    Geovanny Perdomo

  2. University of Medellin, Medellin, Colombia

    Geovanny Perdomo & Claudia Alvarez

  3. Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Claudia Alvarez & David Urbano

Authors
  1. Geovanny Perdomo
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  2. Claudia Alvarez
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  3. David Urbano
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Urbano .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, Technical University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Ignacio Gil-Pechuán

  2. Department of Business Administration, Technical University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Daniel Palacios-Marqués

  3. Department of Business Administration, Technical University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Marta Peris Peris-Ortiz

  4. DISA, Technical University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Eduardo Vendrell

  5. DSIC, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Cesar Ferri-Ramirez

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Perdomo, G., Alvarez, C., Urbano, D. (2014). Analyzing a Successful Incubator Business Model: The Case of Barcelona Activa. In: Gil-Pechuán, I., Palacios-Marqués, D., Peris-Ortiz, M., Vendrell, E., Ferri-Ramirez, C. (eds) Strategies in E-Business. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8184-3_4

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