Exploring the impact of regional characteristics on social incubators’ mission, structure and activity: a contingency perspective

Abstract

Studies of social incubators illustrate the importance of these organizations in promoting social innovations and entrepreneurship at regional level. However, little is known about the main categories of contingency factors that influence the organizational design and fit of social incubators. We apply a comparative case study methodology to analyse the mission, structure and activity of four pioneer social incubators, located in Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Romania. Our findings reveal four categories of regional contingency factors–social needs, institutional framework, entrepreneurial ecosystem and socio-economic characteristics–that influence the design of the incubators’ mission, structure and activity and determine the achievement of organizational fit. By employing a contingency lens, we propose a dynamic model that explains the interdependence between the social incubators’ profiles and specific regional contingencies.