Research & Publications

This study examines which dimensions of business incubation, services, mentorship, finance, and physical space most effectively drive entrepreneurial outcomes in a Small Island Developing State (SIDS). It addresses two documented gaps: the dominance of cross-sectional designs in incubation research and the complete absence of peer-reviewed empirical evidence from the Caribbean. A quantitative repeated-measures longitudinal panel design was employed across three annual waves (2017-2019), using 106 entrepreneurs enrolled in the uSTART business incubator at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, representing 90.6% of the total incubator population. A validated 50-item structured questionnaire measured four incubation dimensions as predictors and four entrepreneurial outcomes, job creation, new venture creation, entrepreneurship development, and economic growth as dependent variables. Four OLS regression models were estimated alongside a repeated-measures descriptive trajectory analysis. Mentorship emerged as the dominant and statistically significant predictor across all four outcome models (β = .43-1.94), with its strongest effect on economic growth. The overall model explained 57% of variance in entrepreneurial outcomes (R² = .57), while job creation achieved the highest single-model fit (R² = .699). Longitudinal trajectories reveal dramatic progression, with outcome indicator means rising from M = 1.00 at Wave 1 to M = 4.27-4.85 at Wave 3 on a five-point scale. This study provides the first longitudinal evidence of business incubation effectiveness from the Caribbean, with full population coverage. Findings reveal mentorship primacy in a necessity-entrepreneur context where experienced entrepreneurial role models are structurally scarce, with direct implications for incubation program design and economic diversification policy in small states.

The pandemic of the Covid-19 virus originated from China in December 2019, and since then it has significantly affected the world's economy and all sectors of life. This review will highlight the impact of Covid-19 on entrepreneurship. Due to preventive measures taken by governments to limit virus transmission, there was a prodigious disruption socially and economically to entrepreneurship, at different levels, of which small scale businesses and startups were among the most vulnerable. The adverse impact was observed in businesses worldwide and most of the newly formed businesses and startups were compelled to dismiss their employees, leading to issues such as widespread unemployment, lack of productivity, and the downturn of economies. Covid-19 also impacted the global supply chain, which resulted in a contraction of the worldwide economy. Many entrepreneurs and startups faced a significant reduction in revenue due to the impact on the global supply chain of both goods and services. In this article, we have discussed the challenges which entrepreneurs have experienced in the catastrophic time of Covid-19, and the measures taken by them to protect their ventures. It can be concluded that Covid-19 has significantly caused disruption to economies and entrepreneurship, and has posed several unprecedented challenges, however, the absolute impact remains unclear, as more in-depth longitudinal studies are required to better investigate this issue.

The research study was conducted to analyse the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Caribbean. The aim of this research study was to investigate the impact of education, industry and government on the entrepreneurial ecosystem's development. The research study utilised a secondary research method as well as a critical review of the literature. The research method proved to be helpful in investigating the research issue, and I critically analysed the findings of prior authors. This study found that educational institutions, as well as strategies followed by the government, play a key role in developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem within a country. The ecosystem of entrepreneurship can be viewed as a combination of monetary, educational, and social environments that can either promote entrepreneurship or influence the way entrepreneurship evolves in the area. The evaluation of different educational institutions based on environmental structure, internal key capabilities, research, growing reputation, entrepreneurial activities, and teaching methods, along with the availability of financial resources, showed that the educational institutions in the region are on the right path. However, the lack of quality entrepreneurial education, internationalisation, and exposure to worldwide export markets are some of the factors that are deterrents in achieving a quality entrepreneurial ecosystem.