Studies on incubators have evolved greatly in recent years. However, it is only recently that researchers have begun to focus their work on the question of the performance of these structures. Various research studies have been carried out to identify indicators of success and to design tools to evaluate and measure the performance of these organizations, but few have examined the background and key success factors of these incubators from a modeling perspective. Therefore, we believe that a synthesis of the factors and models leading to incubator performance remains a priority, allowing for a better understanding of the links and effects of each factor as a whole. This article, therefore, attempts to remedy this lack, and proposes a synthesis of scientific research work dealing with the question of the determinants of performance of incubation support structures. In this work we have tried to present a review of the main models that emerge from the literature in order to explain how incubators can gain in efficiency. Based on a methodology that combines the steps of qualitative systemic literature review and snowball methods of article identification, this work has identified three main models based on two main theories: the real options model, the RBV model and the multidimensional model.