In this paper, we analyze the extent to which University-Level Support Mechanisms (ULSMs) and Local-Context Support Mechanisms (LCSMs) complement or substitute for each other in fostering the ...creation of academic spin-offs. Using a sample of 404 companies spun off from the 64 Italian Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics universities (STEM universities) over the 2000–2007 period, we show that the ULSMs’ marginal effect on universities’ spin-off productivity may be positive or negative depending on the contribution offered by different LCSMs. Specifically, in any given region, ULSMs complement the legislative support offered to high-tech entrepreneurship whereas they have a substitution effect with regard to the amount of regional social capital, regional financial development, the presence of a regional business incubator, regional public R&D expenses as well as the level of innovative performance in the region. Results support the idea that regional settings’ idiosyncrasies should be considered for universities to develop effective spin-off support policies. This paper contributes to the debate on the evaluation of economic policies supporting entrepreneurship.
Abstract Much of the existing research on PhD entrepreneurship is focused on Academic Spin-Offs (ASOs) within the parent institution’s formal intellectual property (IP) structure. Cross-level ...analysis of a survey administered to 23,500 PhD students in Italy shows the heterogeneity of PhD students’ entrepreneurial activities, which, in addition to ASOs, include start-ups, corporate spin-offs and other types of businesses. We examine the types of drivers that matter most for different forms of PhD entrepreneurial ventures. Our findings reveal two forces at play: a technology-push model where PhD students rely on IP and support from the parent university, and a demand-led model that involves support from industry and sources of external finance. This study highlights the strategic alignment among the determinants of PhD entrepreneurship at the micro, meso and macro levels. These determinants include the individual PhD student’s choices, the interactions with different stakeholders and reconciliation of the tensions represented by the organizational and institutional resources and infrastructures.
Many entrepreneurs commercialize an idea they initially developed as employees of an incumbent firm. While some face retaliatory reactions from their (former) employer, others are left alone or even ...supported. It is not clear, however, why some employee spin-offs face parental hostility while others do not, and to what extent this parental hostility affects employee spin-offs’ performance. Integrating the resource-based view with insights on competition and retaliation, we propose that parental hostility increases with the (perceived) competitive threat posed by an employee spin-off. Specifically, we advance employee spin-offs’ initial strategic actions (offering substitute products, hiring employees of the parent, and attempting to first develop the idea inside the parent) as key drivers of parental hostility and consequent spin-off performance. Results from a pooled dataset of 1083 employee spin-offs in Germany confirm that these initial strategic actions trigger parental hostility, which in turn, and contrary to expectations, positively affects employee spin-offs’ innovation and economic performance. These results advance the literature on employee spin-offs in several ways and have important practical implications.
This paper examines the past and present of the university spin-off (USO) phenomenon by identifying research findings and synthesizing different spin-off practices from around the globe. The ...evolution and future of this phenomenon are then discussed, alongside potential new lines of research.
This study adopts a systematic literature review approach, combined with a Multiple Correspondence Analysis. This approach allows for the creation of a robust and reliable synthesis of the research carried out over the past 35 years (1986-2020), offering a fine-grained depiction of the USOs' underlying relationships through multiple correspondence analysis (MCA).
This paper contributes to scholarly literature on academic entrepreneurship by providing insights into the analytical trends of the past, current evidence on the configuration of USOs, and discussions of the future of USO research. Several implications for improving performance, productivity, and reinforcing capabilities emerge to assist spin-off CEOs, university managers, and policymakers.
This paper fulfils an identified need by revealing the trajectory of the USO research field. Additionally, it presents an up-to-date reflection of USO antecedents, decisions, and outcomes, outlining an agenda for future research.
•Studies inhibitors to nascent academic entrepreneurs’ development of entrepreneurial competencies.•Classifies inhibitors into relational, structural, and cultural-cognitive categories.•Shows that ...inhibitors exist both at individual and organizational levels.•Advances theoretical understanding of the interrelated and multilevel functions of inhibitors.•Suggests as policy implications a comprehensive yet decentralized approach for the development of entrepreneurial competencies.
Nascent academic entrepreneurs need to acquire entrepreneurial competencies to create successful spin-off ventures. In this article, we examine difficulties in this pursuit prior to venture formation and offer a systematic classification of inhibitors. We confirm, combine, and extend two previously identified inhibiting mechanisms into a relational inhibitor category, classify additional structural and cultural-cognitive inhibitors, and highlight how these inhibitors exist both at the individual and the organizational level. We then advance theoretical understanding of the interrelated, multilevel functions of inhibitors on the development of entrepreneurial competencies, and offer policy insights on how universities can mitigate their effects.
The creation of spin-off firms from universities is seen as an important mechanism for the commercialization of research, and hence the overall contribution from universities to technological ...development and economic growth. Governments and universities are seeking to develop framework conditions that are conductive to spin-off creation. The most prevalent of such initiatives are legislative changes at national level and the establishment of technology transfer offices at university level. The effectiveness of such initiatives is debated, but empirical evidence is limited. In this paper, we analyze the full population of universities in Italy, Norway, and the UK; three countries adopting differing approaches to framework conditions, to test whether national- and university-level initiatives have an influence on the number of spin-offs created and the quality of these spin-offs. Building on institutional theory and using multilevel analysis, we find that changes in the institutional framework conditions at both national and university levels are conductive to the creation of more spin-offs, but that the increase in quantity is at the expense of the quality of these firms. Hence, the effect of such top–down changes in framework conditions on the economic impact from universities seems to be more symbolic than substantive.
► General evidence and case study data on university graduates’ and faculty start-up activity presented. ► Former appear an order of magnitude larger than latter. ► Transforming universities to ...increase faculty spin-offs might thus not be the most effective way to stimulate entrepreneurship.
Earlier research on the role of universities in fostering entrepreneurial economic development almost exclusively covers spin-offs by faculty and staff. In contrast, we provide general evidence from the U.S. showing that the gross flow of start-ups by recently graduated students with an undergraduate degree in science or engineering is at least an order of magnitude larger than the spin-offs by their faculty, that a recent graduate is twice as likely as her Professor to start a business within three years of graduation, and that the graduates’ spin-offs are not of low quality. Three case studies illustrate how universities may stimulate science and engineering students and recent graduates to create new firms of high quality. We conclude that transforming university goals and practices toward increasing start-ups led by faculty might not be the most effective way for universities to stimulate entrepreneurial economic development.
This paper critically reviews the ethical resonance of the academic entrepreneurship (AE) phenomenon in light of contemporary concerns about ethics and responsibility in public engagements with ...science, technology and the commercialisation of technological discoveries through the creation of university spin-offs. In this context, we address the question of how we can know when we may consider AE as being ethical. We draw on the works on ethics of the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur ̶ one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century ̶ to provide an answer which encompasses but also goes beyond the association of ethics solely with ‘good’ purposes or ‘right’ norms to value it in each situation by paying special attention to how academic entrepreneurs behave in their relationships with others. We conclude that it is the manner and quality of open, generous, meaningful and appropriate ‘self-regulation’ that defines academic entrepreneurs as ethical individuals. The paper helps to improve the understanding of ethics in this field and may also illuminate academic entrepreneurs and university policymakers seeking to improve qualitative outcomes in university spin-offs.
•The ethical resonance of the academic entrepreneurship is reviewed.•Ricoeur's approach goes beyond associating ethics with the good or the right.•A Ricoeurian ethics expands the concern for others beyond teleology and deontology.•Ricoeurian ethics proposes the economy of the gift as a criterium to value ethics.•Good purposes, right norms and other-centred behaviours are criteria to value ethics.
Las spin-off universitarias han ganado una fuerte relevancia en los últimos años. Nos proponemos presentar los principales elementos para el debate público discutiendo tópicos tales como las ...motivaciones para el nacimiento de estas empresas, la política universitaria y oficinas de transferencia de tecnología y la arquitectura de la acción universitaria para el fomento de las spin-off. Sin dejar de lado las funciones primordiales universitarias, la faceta de promoción del desarrollo a través de la constitución de nuevas empresas puede representar una herramienta de muy potente impacto para mejorar el desempeño académico, pero, sobre todo, para influir en el sendero de progreso de nuestra sociedad.
•We examine how university departments influence spin-off venture creation.•We followed four successful and four unsuccessful venturing processes.•Differences in initial department support impact the ...evolution of entrepreneurial competencies.•The department also influenced competency development from external actors.•Lack of department support constrains spin-off evolution regardless of university level support.
The influence of the university department upon spin-off venture evolution is complex and dynamic. We examine how the university department context influences the spin-off process from the perspectives of both the spin-off venture and the department. By comparing the development of entrepreneurial competencies within spin-offs based in different departments at the same universities we observed significant differences in early venture performance. Small differences in initial departmental support from management and senior academics for gaining commercial experience and spending time exploring the commercial opportunity were seen to have a major impact upon the subsequent spin-off development path. Supported ventures gained momentum as the department helped develop entrepreneurial competencies and influenced how these competencies were developed from external actors outside the department. By contrast, a lack of departmental support for entrepreneurship severely constrained the evolution of spin-offs regardless of university level policies and practices. This emphasizes the need for a shift in focus from the well-studied university level to the relatively neglected department level to help explain institutional differences in university spin-off activity.
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