Like you said, the vast majority of Y Combinator clones do seem to offer office space to their companies.
IMHO, too many programs do this for it to be a coincidence.
The best reason I can think of for this phenomenon is that for a program that has yet to establish its sense of community, the physical space acts as a rallying point, and helps project its "presence" amongst entrepreneurs, investors, what have you.
Whether or not it's the best move for a struggling company to get shared office space is a different discussion entirely - but it may well be the best move for a "struggling incubator" (so to speak) to have a vibrant, bubbling shared space to show off to would-be investors, the press, etc.
Or, of course, it may be that lots of incubator program heads simply disagree with Y Combinator. But I have trouble believing the Y Combinator view is that extreme that so few incubators would at least try it their way. The logic behind it is reasonable enough, and the results speak for themselves.
The best reason I can think of for this phenomenon is that for a program that has yet to establish its sense of community, the physical space acts as a rallying point, and helps project its "presence" amongst entrepreneurs, investors, what have you.
Whether or not it's the best move for a struggling company to get shared office space is a different discussion entirely - but it may well be the best move for a "struggling incubator" (so to speak) to have a vibrant, bubbling shared space to show off to would-be investors, the press, etc.
Or, of course, it may be that lots of incubator program heads simply disagree with Y Combinator. But I have trouble believing the Y Combinator view is that extreme that so few incubators would at least try it their way. The logic behind it is reasonable enough, and the results speak for themselves.