1 Are Italian Start-up Competitions an Instrument to Foster the Entrepreneurship Policy? An explorative analysis *(corresponding author) Renato Passaro Department of Engineering (DI), University of Naples Parthenope, Centro Direzionale di Napoli, Isola C4, Naples, Italy, 80143, renato.passaro@uniparthenope.it Ivana Quinto* Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II 80, Piazzale Tecchio,Naples, Italy, 80125, ivana.quinto@unina.it , Antonio Thomas Department of Engineering (DI), University of Naples Parthenope, Centro Direzionale di Napoli, Isola C4, Naples, Italy, 80143, antonio.thomas@uniparthenope.it Keywords: Entrepreneurship policy, Start-up Competitions, Business Plan Competitions