Spin-Offs’ Linkages to Their Parent Universities Over Time: the Performance Implications of Equity, Geographical Proximity, and Technological Ties

Abstract

This study explores the impact of parent university linkages on the market performance of university spin-off firms (USOs). We argue that spin-offs’ performance is not only affected by competencies inherited from their parent universities at start-up but also by linkages maintained over time. We longitudinally study 551 USOs established between 2000 and 2008 in Italy. Using estimations that account for attrition and endogeneity, we find that equity-based university linkages increase spin-offs’ market performance and that geographical proximity strengthens this effect. Furthermore, increasing technological ties between USOs’ entrepreneurial teams and their parent universities has a detrimental effect on performance, especially for companies that remain geographically proximate to their parent universities. The results have implications for theory and practice related to strategic linkages, alliances, and academic entrepreneurship.