스타트업 액셀러레이터 효과 평가: 메타분석적 고찰

Startup accelerators (ACs) are key actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, providing intensive support such as mentoring, education, funding, and networking. Although ACs in South Korea have experienced substantial quantitative growth over the past decade, empirical studies that systematically verify their effectiveness remain limited. To address this gap, this study conducts a meta-analysis to comprehensively evaluate the impact of AC support on startup performance. A total of 113 effect sizes (r) were extracted from 16 Korean academic studies that examined the relationship between AC participation and startup outcomes. The results indicate that AC support has a statistically significant and moderately positive effect on startup performance (r=.311). However, a high level of heterogeneity was observed across studies, prompting moderator analyses to identify the conditions under which AC support is more or less effective. The type of performance measurement emerged as a significant moderating variable: studies using self-reported data showed a significant positive effect (r=.355), whereas those using objective indicators (e.g., financial or employment data) reported effect sizes near zero (r=–.020) that did not reach statistical significance. In contrast, differences in effect sizes by AC support type and startup performance type were not statistically significant. This pattern suggests that AC effectiveness tends to emerge from the combined bundle of support components rather than from specific individual program elements. Moreover, although differences across performance types were not statistically significant, relatively stronger effects for competency and operational outcomes imply that AC influence first appears in intrinsic, process-oriented performance indicators that are observable in the short term. Based on these findings, this study highlights the need to identify the integrated mechanisms of AC programs, develop evaluation systems that account for the gap between subjective perceptions and objective performance, and systematically trace the pathways from initial resource support to phased performance outcomes. The study contributes to the literature by providing an integrated, meta-analytic assessment of AC effectiveness in the Korean context and by identifying sources of heterogeneity in prior findings. Furthermore, it offers practical implications for the refinement of AC program design and the advancement of performance management systems.