University Spin-off Firms Research Articles

Innovation ecosystems: a comparison between university spin-off firms and innovative start-ups. Evidence from Italy

Innovation ecosystems: a comparison between university spin-off firms and innovative start-ups. Evidence from Italy

Urban Policy Response to Radical Innovation in Sustainable Energy: The Case of University Spin-Offs and Local Triple Helix Interaction

This paper pictures several risk-taking strategies of young high-tech firms in bringing energy inventions to market and ways urban policy (municipalities) may provide supporting facilities and help accelerate the energy transition. Derived from a longitudinal study of 100 firms in northwest Europe, two findings contribute to practice. Firstly<em>,</em> a share of almost 40 percent of university spin-off firms fails in the market introduction; if the market introduction is reached, 30 percent is relatively late. This development calls for attention to acceleration and risk-taking concerns. However, risk-taking firm strategies, like targeting radical inventions and new markets, tend to hamper early market introduction. Secondly, urban policy supports filling risk-related needs, particularly in large metropolitan networks. Cities (municipalities) may act as launching customers and provide sites and organizations for practical experimentation (e.g., in living labs) alongside steering on cross-faculty application platforms at the university that also connect with city functions. Cities’ initiatives, however, tend to be fragmented and miss priority. Partnering in Triple Helix networks with local universities and businesses may improve the situation, for example, by priority setting, better alignment, and integration. The urban policy also has a role in improving broader conditions, particularly the attraction of related R&D firms to the city/region and the attraction and retention of top-class researchers.

Investigating the association between universities' corporate governance structure and the knowledge transfer performance outcomes

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to provide evidence of the relationship between the governance structure of universities and the universities' knowledge transfer (KT) performance outcomes measured in terms of university spin-off firms university spin-offs (USOs).Design/methodology/approachThe universities' board of directors has been analyzed under three profiles: the incidence of internal directors belonging to the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) faculties, the incidence of women directors and the incidence of external directors.FindingsThe findings provide evidence of a significant and positive association, for southern Italian state universities, of the presence of university STEM directors and the establishment of university spin-offs (USOs).Originality/valueThe article is original as, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study, except for the paper by Meoliet al.(2019), examined the governance of universities in relation to the establishment of academic spin-offs.

Analyzing the Effects of Institutional- and Ecosystem-Level Variables on University Spin-Off Performance

Academic entrepreneurship has been one of the main research fields over the past 20 years, specifically due to the interest of policy makers in this topic. Initially, this interest focused on the creation of university spin-off (USO) firms; although given the new circumstances of the university and its context, there is a need to steer the research topic toward survival. This is because the simple creation of USOs, without their being able to survive or create value, is useless. This article focuses on one of the determining factors of the success of USOs, as measured by employment and sales growth: the influence of institutional- and ecosystem-level variables. Through a backward sequential process, our results show that the business size and the public support in the field of training and bureaucracy are the main elements that affect success.

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

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.

Entrepreneurial Risk-Taking in Sustainable Energy: University Spin-Off Firms and Market Introduction in Northwest Europe

Universities are cradles of innovation, with many start-ups involved in sustainable energy solutions. The extent in which such solutions reach the market and the kind of risk-related factors young firms encounter, are hardly known and understood. We aim to clarify market introduction and focus on the empirics of firms’ risk-taking behavior related to strategic choices, competences, and interactions with (national) ecosystem conditions. We use a unique dataset of almost 110 university spin-off firms and a small selected sample from this set. A total of 60% of spin-offs are able to reach the market, most of them in the first five years of spin-offs’ lives. Wind energy provides the best chances, as compared to such things as solar photovoltaics (PV) and advanced biomass. In-depth results suggest the high probability of quick market introduction in ‘Innovation Leader’ countries, like Sweden and Denmark, if combined with employing rich collaborative networks. A second set of favorable influences includes a practical mindset and accessing substantial investment capital. In contrast, strong risks tend to be connected to activity in fundamental inventions, highly specialized technology, weakly developed (sub) markets, poorly built networks, and short refunding time of substantial investment. This study provides a unique contribution to understanding the market introduction of sustainable energy solutions and risk-taking in this effort by young high-tech firms, among others, connected to differences between countries.

Knowledge relationships of university spin-off firms: Contrasting dynamics in global reach

This article provides an attempt to better understand the establishment of international knowledge relationships, including changes over time. Internationalization of young high-tech firms is strongly required given the drive for upscaling technology solutions and given the increased global spread of knowledge centers. To increase understanding, a framework of conditions of capability formation in internationalization is developed and measured using a sample of 105 university spin-off firms in Northwest Europe. In early years, 62% of these firms employed knowledge relationships abroad, often crossing continents. The main capabilities in this stage tend to be connected to education (PhD) and market training, innovation activity at practical level, and diversity in preceding domestic networks. Subsequent changes on the firm level show a somewhat stronger internationalization, 74%, associated with other capabilities compared to early years, mainly derived in previous internationalization, pre-start work experience and innovation activity at an advanced level. However, the results also point to a ‘problematic’ segment of firms, including shrinking patterns and persistent absence of internationalization. To summarize, we observe inertia as well as (highly) dynamic patterns of knowledge relationships abroad, with important implications for management and policy.

University spin-off firms’ struggle with openness in early knowledge relationships: in search of antecedents and outcomes

ABSTRACTLittle is known about how young high-tech ventures create openness in their knowledge networks. This paper explores the influence of antecedent resources on openness in knowledge networks, seen as diversity in knowledge partners, and explores the impact of openness on growth. The results from 105 university spin-off firms suggest that three antecedents positively influence openness, namely, founders’ prestart experience, education and innovation experience, and one negatively, namely, size of the founding team. Regarding non-linearity, there are signs of cubic influences, potentially in line with passing critical junctures. In addition, external factors tend to have no influence on openness, except for region of location. Further, shaping the right amount of openness and benefitting from it seem a struggle, as an increasing openness tends to influence growth with decreasing returns.

The Role of Management Capabilities on Entrepreneurial Orientation and Firm Growth Relationship

The concept of firm orientation by Miller seminal works (1983) was expanded further by other scholars and gradually came to be known as entrepreneurial orientation. The objective of this study is to review the literature on entrepreneurial orientation, firm growth and management capabilities within the context of university spin-off firms. Thus, this paper seeks to review the impact of management capabilities as a main source and driver on firm’s growth. This paper proposes a conceptual model to further realize the influence of managerial capabilities on firm growth and entrepreneurial orientation relationship. Despite its coverage and emphasis, the concept of entrepreneurial orientation lacks theoretical basis and contextual study that could enhance its understanding. Previous research has defined entrepreneurial orientation in a variety of ways. This paper utilizes Resourcebased View in particular Penrosian Theory of Firm as underpinning theory.

Univerzitné spin-off spoločnosti v Európe: faktory a politiky ovplyvňujúce ich vznik

The formation of university-spin off is seen as a potential tool for the transfer of knowledge and technology. University spin-off firms are able to transform the knowledge accumulated in research into its practical application and commercialization. Despite this fact, the formation of university spin-off is still rather rare phenomenon in many European countries. In our paper, we provide several examples of good practice in central European countries. Moreover, the paper aims to examine factors that could potentially affect the formation of university spin-offs in European countries. We applied logit and probit regression analysis based on empirical data for 2465 universities in Europe retrieved from European Tertiary Education Register database. Our results suggest that those universities, which are neither focused on many different fields of study, nor highly specialized are less often involved in creating the university spin-off. Furthermore, intensity of PhD study, the share of tuition fees as well as a number of foreign students appears to be other factors affecting the probability of forming a university spin-off. Our results also bring several policy implications for tertiary education policy, which are summarized in the conclusion.

Determinant factors of university spin-off: the case of Korea

Increasingly more research has examined the creation of university spin-off firms as are seen as an important source of regional and national economic growth. However little is known about the factors influencing the formation of university spin-off in Asian countries, especially in Korea. This paper contributes to the literature on academic entrepreneurship by deepening our understanding on determinant factors of university spin-off in the case of Korea. We investigate organizational and institutional factors highlighted in the literature as influencing the creation of university spin-off companies. The Korean government has implemented the INNOPOLIS Research Institute Spin-off (IRIS) program to enable universities to create new firms within special research and development (RD consequently, this study utilized 122 universities from 2013 to 2015 to analyze determinant factors that affect university spin-offs. Panel logit and negative binomial analysis results indicate that university location has the highest positive influence on IRIS. Government-sponsored funding has a negative impact; however, the likelihood that universities create spin-offs and the number of IRIS firms are positively and significantly affected by publications, patents, research funding, and number of university spin-offs.

Hidden mediator roles of university spin-offs in Triple Helix networks

University spin-off firms contribute to bringing knowledge created at university to market. The networks these firms employ with other Triple Helix actors serve as not only getting access to resources but also shaping processes of collective learning in transforming the knowledge most adequately. In addition, spin-offs may affect the networks and behavior of network participants. While the first role has received large attention, collective learning and transforming networks and network partners have not. The paper addresses a key requirement in this setting, namely diversity in networks. We use a database of 105 young university spin-off firms and measure the socio-economic networks. A share of around 25 to 35 % of the firms tends to have an important potential mediator role, as they employ three to five different partners, connect with large firms as well as governments (outside the university), and have inserted a majority of strangers (outsiders) in their network. In the next step, to better understand partner diversity, we assess a simplified model. The level of innovativeness is found to be an important driver of diversity, with pre-start working experience (domains) and multidisciplinary education as important enabling factors. In exploring actual mediator roles using two case studies, we observe that Triple Helix actors are most diverse and tightly connected in testing activities in practice (pilots) enabling transformation of networks and network partners. The paper concludes with a summary, policy relevance, and future research paths.

Contingency factors on university spin-off formation: an empirical study in Germany

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate contingency factors on the emergence of university spin-off firms. The institutional and organisational factors the paper explores comprise the transfer potential of the university, the strategy and characteristics of the University Technology Transfer Organisations and specific support for spin-off formation. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a unique data set, this cross-sectional study analyses the population of 54 higher education institutions in Germany. At this, 31.4 per cent of the German universities with technology transfer activities participated in this study. Findings – The research identifies a high degree of heterogeneity in the qualification of University Technology Transfer Offices (UTTO) staff and the existence of an entrepreneurship support programme as important antecedents of spin-off formation. In addition, the results reveal that pursuing different or multiple transfer strategies will not be detrimental to the establishment of spin-offs. Practical implications – It seems that there is still a lack of consensus with respect to the importance of spin-offs as an effective channel to transform research results into economic value. Furthermore, universities aiming at the promotion of spin-offs need appropriate regulations which do not jeopardise the usage of research outcomes for entrepreneurial purposes. Originality/value – This study contributes to enhance the knowledge on what promotes and inhibits the formation of university spin-off firms, as it first analyses a considerable population of UTTOs in Germany and explicitly considers underexplored and new contingency factors.

Benefitting from Learning Networks in “Open Innovation”: Spin-off Firms in Contrasting City Regions

R&D and innovation increasingly take place in networks that extend beyond the boundaries of a single firm, with customers in an important role in the learning processes involved. This phenomenon is captured by the term “open innovation”. Advantages of open innovation encompass cost reduction and an increased competitiveness. Spatial innovation theory however indicates that the potential of open innovation is not the same for all urban regions, there may be differences between large metropolitan areas and small cities. In this context, the authors compare university spin-off firms in two contrasting urban regions in Europe, Delft in the Netherlands and Trondheim in Norway (a metropolitan area versus an isolated city) with regard to the profile of their learning networks and the contribution of these networks to growth. Learning networks appear to differ in structure and strength, in spatial configuration and also in the influence on job growth. Thus, networks in Delft (in a large metropolitan area) tend to be stronger compared to those in Trondheim (isolated city), whereas the influence of network strength on growth tends to be negative in Delft but positive in Trondheim. Overall, firms in Trondheim tend to rely more on own resources and capabilities and less on learning networks in open innovation.

Open innovation among university spin-off firms: what is in it for them, and what can cities do?

R&D and innovation increasingly take place in networks beyond the boundaries of a single firm with customers in a more important role than in previous times. This new innovation model has been labelled as open innovation. In studies on innovation, learning mechanisms have largely remained a black box, causing difficulty in assessing what the benefits of open innovation might be. This paper examines a particular category of high-tech firms, university spin-offs, and illustrates resources that are missing and the level of openness in learning networks to gain these resources. Spin-off firms from Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, are taken as a case study. Resource deficiency among these firms mainly concerns understanding and accessing the market, whereas the learning networks point to a negative impact of relatively closed networks (strong relationships, mainly local/regional orientation), thereby confirming the need for more open innovation. Next, the paper turns to an assessment of the potentials of certain types of open innovation to further enhance the growth of spin-off firms. The paper also identifies various new (or renewed) roles of city governments in promoting open innovation in a new scenario.

Assessing China's Economic Catch-Up at the Firm Level and Beyond: Washington Consensus, East Asian Consensus and the Beijing Model

This paper takes a new Schumpeterian economics approach in examining firm-level technological catch-up strategies in China. We focus on the strategies for learning and gaining access to a foreign knowledge base. We also underline unique Chinese features, including forward engineering (i.e. the role of university spin-off firms) in contrast to reverse engineering, acquisition of technology and brands through international mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and parallel learning from foreign direct investment (FDI) to promote indigenous companies. These features comprise the Beijing model because they were not explicitly adopted by either Korea or Taiwan. At the macro and aggregate levels, we find that China follows the “East Asian sequencing” rather than the Washington Consensus. We also discuss several challenges facing China, such as design capabilities and localization of intermediate parts. We conclude that the Chinese industry will not remain a low-end original equipment manufacturer (OEM) economy but will rise to the level of high-end or brand producers.

Convergence or path dependency in policies to foster the creation of university spin-off firms? A comparison of France and the United Kingdom

This paper examines attempts by French and UK governments to fill the gap between the US and Europe with respect to the creation of academic spin-offs. Analysis of the contrasting cases of the UK and France, shows that there is no convergence of national policies to foster the creation of firms by academics. Rather, the two countries demonstrate different rationales and approaches to policy in this area. In UK, the rationale for spin-off policy is mainly to develop a third stream of financing. Spin-offs are a part of a policy to commercialize technology and knowledge created by universities. Policy is at the university level, leading to the creation of diverse structures. Public schemes bring public money directly to universities. In France, the rationale for policy towards the creation of new ventures by academics is the development of high technology new ventures as part of a technological entrepreneurship policy. The notion of a third stream of financing for universities is an argument that is never advanced. The UK has placed the universities at the heart of policies aimed at the creation of spin-offs, this is not the case in France.

Knowledge-Intensive University Spin-off Firms in South Africa: Fragile Network Alignment?

This paper analyses the conditions for sustaining spin-off firms from university-based research in South Africa through follow-up case studies of three high-technology networks, using a ‘network alignment’ approach. Commercialization failed in the first case because of a lack of interactive capability and an absence of networks between the university and the industrial sector. Initial success was short-lived for the second case, given misalignment between firm and market conditions and in the coordination of key functions in the firm. In the third and most successful case, there was misalignment between the firm and a key global supplier, impacting on networks between firm and market and threatening turnover and future viability. The degree of alignment in the South African national system of innovation is fragile, in that networks may exist but not sufficiently widely across the system, or they may not function effectively. Hence, as the empirical evidence suggests, it is difficult to sustain competitive spin-off firms.

University spin-off firms: lessons from ten years of experience in Europe

This paper advances our understanding of university spin-off creation and development in environments outside the high-tech cluster of the USA. It adopts a multi-level approach in its examination of this phenomenon in diverse institutional environments. In particular, units of analysis involving universities, technology transfer offices, spin-off firms, finance providers and individual entrepreneurs and teams are analysed. Policy implications are analysed and recommendations are proposed for current policy on university spin-offs.

Spin-off enterprises as a means of technology commercialisation in a transforming economy—Evidence from three universities in China

Recently, some university spin-off firms have begun to substantially contribute to the technological upgrading of China's economy. The corresponding academic literature, however, does not yet deal with spin-off activities of Chinese universities in a comprehensive and theoretically sound way. Currently, most articles on Chinese spin-offs focus on case studies of the most prominent government-sponsored enterprises in Beijing. This paper aims to contribute to the literature in a more comprehensive manner by providing a theoretical discussion of spin-off formation in a developing and transforming economy, and by presenting results from a comparative study based on data from 82 interviews with spin-off enterprises in three metropolitan regions in China. The study shows that under the initial framework conditions, government-driven spin-off formation has indeed proved an appropriate solution for technology transfer at Chinese universities. Many of the companies thus formed, however, suffer from defective incentive structures and lack of performance. Consequently, since lifting or easing restrictive regulations, the formerly unique model of Chinese spin-off formation has been complemented by a surge of entrepreneurial spin-off formation.