University entrepreneurship: a taxonomy of the literature

Abstract

The literature on university entrepreneurship is rapidly expanding, in both the United States and Europe. Since the literature is also fairly fragmented, however, we submit that it is time to take stock of the current knowledge to provide directions for future research and guideposts for policy makers. To accomplish this, we present an unusually comprehensive and detailed literature analysis of the stream of research on university entrepreneurship, now encompassing 173 articles published in a variety of academic journals. Four major research streams emerge in this area of study: (i) entrepreneurial research university, (ii) productivity of technology transfer offices, (iii) new firm creation, and (iv) environmental context including networks of innovation. We inductively derive a framework describing the dynamic process of university entrepreneurship based on a synthesis of the literature. We submit that this framework is useful in guiding future research on this important, yet complex and under-researched topic.