Abstract:

Over the past three decades, universities have expanded their traditional missions of teaching and research to include entrepreneurial engagement and commercialization. Within this evolving landscape, university-based incubation ecosystems have emerged as critical platforms supporting academic startups and incubated ventures. Despite growing scholarly attention, prior research has largely examined isolated determinants of incubator performance, offering limited integrative understanding of the multi-level enablers and barriers shaping incubatee development. Addressing this gap, the present study conducts a systematic literature review to develop a comprehensive, theoretically grounded framework explaining incubatee development within university-based incubation ecosystems.

Using the Scopus database, relevant studies were identified through structured keyword searches covering university-based startups, academic entrepreneurship, incubators, incubatees, enablers, barriers, and support mechanisms. Following PRISMA guidelines and predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 76 peer-reviewed articles in Business, Management, and Accounting were selected for final analysis. Thematic coding was employed to extract recurring constructs, which were synthesized into six second-order themes: Academic Entrepreneurship, Institutional and Policy Environment, Technology Transfer, Financial Support and Resource Mobilization, Strategic Networks and Collaboration, and Venture Development and Execution.

Through inductive abstraction, these themes were organized into four aggregate dimensions: Institutional Governance Architecture, Knowledge and Innovation System, Entrepreneurial Asset Enablement, and Collaboration Networks. Drawing on institutional theory, the study conceptualizes university-based incubation ecosystems as environments shaped by regulative, normative, and cognitive pillars that influence legitimacy, strategic action, and resource access. The proposed framework explains incubatee development as a structured value creation process progressing through capability formation, market readiness, venture growth, and sustainable scaling.

Findings indicate that incubatee outcomes are determined not by isolated support mechanisms but by the alignment and interaction of governance structures, commercialization systems, resource configuration, and collaborative integration. Institutional enablers such as policy stability, incubation infrastructure, and university–industry linkages enhance developmental trajectories, whereas bureaucratic rigidity, regulatory complexity, and capability gaps act as barriers. By integrating macro-level institutional conditions with venture-level development mechanisms, this study advances theoretical understanding of academic entrepreneurship ecosystems.

The review contributes to entrepreneurship and incubation literature by offering a multi-level, institutionally grounded synthesis of enablers and barriers influencing incubatee growth. It also provides practical insights for policymakers, university administrators, and incubation managers seeking to design coherent and sustainable incubation ecosystems that foster long-term entrepreneurial value creation.

Please choose your submission type: Developmental Paper

Primary Track: Entrepreneurship

Keywords: International entrepreneurship

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Ms. SHIKHA MASUTA