A review on attraction factors of science and technology parks to firms in health sector

BACKGROUND: Over the past few years, a rapidly growing number of science and technology parks (STPs) in health sector have emerged across the world. There has been little discussion in the literature to show how STPs could make an attractive environment to absorb and retain potential firms. This is even more challenging for specialized STPs in health sector. The aim of this study is to identify the attractive factors for firms in a STP in health sector. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A scoping review method was undertaken to review the literature on seven databases (ScienceDirect, Scopus, ProQuest, Google Scholar, EconPapers, PubMed, and ISI Web of Science) for peer-reviewed articles published until 2019. The search results were screened against the inclusion of criteria to ensure they met the objectives. The eligible papers were then assessed on the basis of the full text, and finally the results were extracted. RESULTS: The attractive factors for firms and talents in multidimensional STPs and those in health sector are extracted and summarized. The attractive factors of multidimensional STPs, which includes health sector firms, and those specialized in health sector are summarized in three main categories; factors created by government and universities, and factors related to STP policies and those expected by the firms. CONCLUSION: To make STPs attractive for firms in health sector, there is a list of factors that are required to be done not only by STP itself, but also by the national and local government and industries. It is important to consider the factors that are expected by the firms to be implemented. The results of this study suggest that making STPs attractive for health sector firms needs close collaboration between government, universities, related industries, and STPs all together.