University-Industry Business Incubators in Taiwan

Abstract

According to World Economic Forum data, if an area’s average income per capita is over 9000 US dollars, then knowledge and technological innovation will be the most important forces driving its economic growth. In Taiwan 98% of the companies are small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and they play a fundamental role in the sustainable development of Taiwan’s economy, but due to limited funding, very few of them have established research and development (R&D) departments. Over 70% of the R & D resources in Taiwan are held by universities, which have become hubs for new knowledge and technologies. Through university-industry collaboration, original and breakthrough ideas, inventions, and innovations are systematically channeled from universities into industrial applications and used to develop an entrepreneurial economy. This method has been proven effective in many developing countries. This paper examines how the government policy helps university incubators enhance R & D ability and subsequently promote production efficiency and product quality.