Measuring the performance of Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University and the government laboratories’ spin-off companies

Abstract

The paper reports on a recent study, which uses various indicators to provide an insight on the performance of spin-off companies from the public sector research base in Oxfordshire (UK). The study builds upon the other studies and fills a gap in the field by gathering empirical information on the performance of technology-based spin-off companies. While the main geographical focus is the county of Oxfordshire, UK, the findings will also be of value for other researchers and institutions with an interest in assessing the performance of spin-off firms. The evidence shows that the number of spin-offs in Oxfordshire has increased rapidly over recent years, as the result of evolving national policy and the entrepreneurial culture of the universities and laboratories. However, the academics and scientists in Oxfordshire's institutions were already entrepreneurial in the 1950s, less so in the 1960s, but increasingly in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in Oxford University, which is by far the largest generator of spin-offs in the region.