The Significance of Business Incubators in Fostering the Growth of Start-Ups Towards the Environment and Sustainable Development

This Since the introduction of Bahrain Vision 2030 in 2008, the government has endeavored to adopt a comprehensive economic development strategy based on “sustainability, competitiveness, and fairness.” In order to achieve this aim, the government has placed a significant emphasis on the importance of start-up businesses in strengthening the country's economy and maintaining its local and global position. In 2003, Bahrain has established the first business incubator center in GCC. According to statistics in 2023, there are 23 mixed business incubators in Bahrain. Despite the critical role that business incubators play as a facilitative entity for incubated startup businesses in supporting the economy of Bahrain, lack of environmental sustainability within these incubators leads to environmental, economic, societal issues. A quantitative research study was conducted using the theory of planned behavior. The population sample involves managers and administrators from a total of 23 mixed business incubators. The present study used structural equation modelling (SEM) to evaluate data collected from a total of 381 respondents. The study shows that the intentions of incubated start-up business managers to adopt sustainable initiatives play a crucial role in influencing their subsequent sustainable behaviors. The study concludes the findings with a suggested conceptual framework.