Institutions created by Decree Law 88/99 of March 19th. They are defined in article 3 rd as “legal persons of private law that may be associations, foundations, civil or commercial companies, cooperatives, incorporated joint ventures or European economic interest groups”. Their objectives are stated in article 4 th : promoting, within the national framework of approved policies and strategies, the economic, social and cultural development of a part of the national territory by, inter alia: promoting activities that create employment and improve the environment and life quality; promoting the creation of enterprises and domestic and foreign investments, technological innovation; promotion of the creation of infrastructures and collective equipment; educative actions and professional training; valorization of human, natural, historical and cultural resources; design, negotiation and intermediation of plans, programs and development projects; provision of technical assistance and management of regional small and medium enterprises.
Published in Chapter:
The Promotion of Entrepreneurship in Low Density Regions: The Case of the Agency for the Regional Development of Alentejo (ADRAL)
Maria da Conceição Rego (Universidade de Évora, Portugal), Maria Raquel Lucas (Universidade de Évora, Portugal), Isabel Vieira (Universidade de Évora, Portugal), and Carlos Vieira (Universidade de Évora, Portugal)
Copyright: © 2016
|Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-9567-2.ch011
Abstract
In the 1980s, the renewal of academic interest in entrepreneurship as a factor of development highlighted the role of entrepreneurs in creating jobs and driving innovation. In the new century, fostering entrepreneurship became a public policy priority. In Portugal, the practice of creating business incubators has been gaining momentum and various institutions have developed business incubation activities. This study focuses on ADRAL – Agência de Desenvolvimento Regional do Alentejo, an agency for the regional development of Alentejo – and analyzes one of its instruments for the promotion of entrepreneurship – the creation of business incubators (also designated as enterprises' nests) located in Marvão and Montemor-o-Novo. These chapter focus on these two cases and assess the distinctive aspects of the partnerships between the development agency and the municipalities, and also the characteristics of the entrepreneurial projects and respective entrepreneurs, aiming at identifying the specificities of this approach and its success determinants.