Evaluation of technopreneurship policy in Singapore

• Main Author: Wong, Teck Yenn
• Other Authors: Zhang Zhibin
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Political science::Political institutions::Asia::Singapore; DRNTU::Social sciences::Political science::Public administration::Asia::Singapore; DRNTU::Business::General::Government policies
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This dissertation comprises three self-contained essays with the common theme of public policy and high technology entrepreneurship in the Singapore context. Essay 1 discusses the sufficiency of the Singapore government’s efforts in enhancing high technology business activities. It will also determine whether sufficient efforts by the government will indeed result in a corresponding growth in actual high technology business activities and hence start-ups. It is found that the government fulfilled sufficiently the efforts to contribute to enhancing high technology business activities. At the same time, the corresponding impact on high technology business activities level and start-ups is overall positive. Essay 2 evaluates incubator programmes in Singapore using empirical survey. Technopreneurship is treated with high importance in Singapore, judging from the patterns of government support for entrepreneurship. The finding from this essay revealed the effectiveness of the supports from the government in boosting technopreneurship, and also the effectiveness of helping technopreneurs commercialize and globalize their results. From the survey results, it is found that costing benefit is the most important factor technopreneurs see in being part of an incubator programme. Other factors such as grouping resources as advisory services also play important roles in the perception of technopreneurs on the efficacy of incubator programmes. Essay 3 focuses on the impacts of government support programmes on entrepreneurship in Singapore using survey data with entrepreneurs as survey respondents. This permits a direct analysis of the efficacy of the various elements of identified support programmes on entrepreneurship from programme-users’ point of view. Based on the framework built in Essay 1, it is found that respondents deem current support programs aimed to influence individuals towards entrepreneurship as only slightly influential in importance. In comparison, the effectiveness of these support programmes reaching out to and benefited by individuals was neutral. While the matching intensity of effectiveness over importance is high (understandable, since both are mediocre), rooms for improvements are suggested to generate a more robust level of entrepreneurship.