In many countries of the OECD business incubators have become an increasingly popular policy instrument for local economic and employment development.
Business incubators aim to assist entrepreneurs with enterprise start-ups.
Incubators are also being widely used to pursue related objectives such as the commercialization of university research, providing infrastructure, upgrading the technological capabilities of local firms, and even affording a safe haven for legitimate entrepreneurship where crime is a constraint on business. As this publication makes clear, there is considerable diversity in the types of business incubator, their modes of operation and the objectives they pursue. However, this is still a young industry in many countries, and evaluation material is scarce. This publication reviews current experience in business incubation in Australia, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.