Do incubatees form more alliances? Nature of the alliance and start-up ownership as contingencies

Incubators are reputed to be key institutions for the creation and growth of viable and successful entrepreneurial ventures. One mechanism through which their beneficial action should unfold is that incubatees could be more likely to stipulate alliances with third parties. We explore, both theoretically and empirically, the possibility that this crucial bridging function performed by incubators is indeed contingent on both (a) the type of alliance that start-ups are seeking for, where we distinguish between R&D and commercial alliances; (b) the specific ownership structure of the start-ups. Our analysis is based on a dataset of 1766 incubatees and non-incubatees young innovative companies. Results highlight that incubators accomplish their bridging role depending on the two above-mentioned contingencies. In particular, incubated start-ups show higher probabilities than non-incubates to stipulate R&D alliances only if they are university-backed, while commercial alliances figure as a prerogative of incubatees only when these latter are business-backed.