Research on the Operation Efficiency of Science and Technology Innovation Incubator Under Different Leading Modes

Introduction

In recent years, the incubator of scientific and technological innovation has become an important means to promote the development of scientific and technological innovation and enhance the vitality of regional economy (Bergek & Norrman, 2008; Schwartz & Göthner, 2009; Özdemir & Şehitoğlu, 2013; Bruneel, Ratinho, Clarysse, & Groen, 2012; Merigó, Gil-Lafuente & Yager, 2015; Ratinho & Henriques, 2010). In addition, incubators with good operating efficiency are also conducive to the development of regional entrepreneurship (Jamil, Ismail & Mahmood, 2015). Since the incubator of scientific and technological innovation needs to achieve the maximum output under the given conditions of input, the research on the incubation mechanism and operating efficiency has been paid attention by scholars, government and business (Aernoudt, 2004; Barbero, Casillas, Ramos, & Guitar, 2012). However, most of the existing researches on incubators are concentrated in developed regions such as the United States and the United Kingdom, whose incubators have formed a good incubation mechanism. Research on emerging areas where incubator projects are being developed is urgent and necessary (M’Chirgui, Lamine, Mian & Fayolle, 2018). As one of the rapidly developing emerging countries, China has become the third largest country in the world in the field of the incubator projects of scientific and technological innovation (Jamil, Ismail & Siddique, 2016). Therefore, it is of great value for incubator research to study the current situation of operating efficiency development of incubators in China.

As an important carrier of innovation, entrepreneurship and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, the incubator of scientific and technological innovation have sprung up rapidly in China in just over a decade (Shannxi, 2015). Especially, the “mass entrepreneurship and innovation” policy proposed by the Chinese government in recent years has further stimulated the development of the incubator of scientific and technological innovation. Although China has ranked among the largest and fastest growing economies in the world (Johnson & Tellis, 2008), the economic developmental level of various regions in China is still uneven, and the operating efficiency of incubators is greatly different due to different local government policies and restrictions (Lindelöf & Science, 2002). Under the existing research system, there are studies on the operating efficiency of Chinese incubator of scientific and technological innovation, but it is very rare to systematically study the operational efficiency differences caused by the differences between specific regions and regions, or even the types of incubators under regional characteristics (Hochberg, 2016). In addition, Chinese incubator of scientific and technological innovation was initially established by the government to guide scientific and technological innovation, and its initial incubator mode tends to be a single government-led form. However, due to the lack of competition, the government-led incubators are short of the consciousness of independent innovation (Wplniak & Grebski, 2017). Therefore, the Chinese government began to encourage other demand subjects to join the construction of incubators, and the incubator of scientific and technological innovation led by private subjects emerged (Chandra & Chao, 2011). However, under the special situation of China, the government still plays an important role in leading social scientific and technological innovation, and government-led incubators of scientific and technological innovation still account for a large part, but the research on the advantages and disadvantages of government-led incubators and private-led incubators is still vague. Therefore, it is of great value to study the difference of operating efficiency of incubators of scientific and technological innovation under different dominant modes in China.