The business of supporting open innovation: drivers of value capture of business incubators across German regions

Abstract Business incubators (BIs) play a crucial role in fostering entrepreneurship and regional innovation. However, while considerable attention has been given to their positive impact on tenants, little is known about how BIs capture value from offering their services. Drawing on the open innovation framework and regional innovation systems literature, this research investigates the relationship between internal and external openness of BIs and their ability to capture value, considering the influence of regional knowledge resources on this relationship. We tested our hypotheses on a sample of 109 German BIs, collecting data from a survey of their managers and from regional data sources. Our findings suggest that fostering internal networking among tenants is positively associated with BIs’ value capture, emphasizing the importance of facilitating knowledge exchange within incubator environments. Surprisingly, external openness was not related to BI value capture. Moreover, we identify a negative moderation effect of regional private knowledge levels on the relationship between external openness and BI value capture. These findings bear implications for research and practice alike.