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In this study, several aspects of Saxion spin-offs have been analysed, the numbers, workplaces, location, migration, gender issues, different economic sectors and survival rates. The main question underlying all these analyses was what the impact of Saxion as university of applied sciences is on the regional economy of the two regions in which it is located. From the literature, the concept of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, as explanatory factor for the observations that in certain regions more graduates or staff members start their own business and that such an ecosystem helps small fledgling businesses to survive and grow is an interesting concept. Unfortunately, the theoretical foundations are still not fully crystallized, therefore measuring the actual influence of such entrepreneurial ecosystems is still a difficult exercise. In this study, Saxion spin-offs from two regions, Twente and the Cleantech Region, have been analysed, and several differences in terms of number of spin-offs, employment, migration patterns and survival rates have been identified. Since the spin-offs are from the same university of applied sciences, with the same policy regarding support of entrepreneurship and both regions are located outside of the economic core regions of the country, it appears as if the strength of the regional context, the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem and the business opportunities it provides is a factor in explaining why there are more spin-offs in Twente (even when controlling for the larger size of the Saxion campus in this region). If one assumes that the strength of the entrepreneurial ecosystem is stronger in Twente (among others because of existing business networks, the availability of a world class research university, the University of Twente and a business support organization like Novel-T), it would explain why spin-offs located in this region on average offer more workplaces, and have a higher survival rate than in the Cleantech Region. Gender differences related to entrepreneurship are present in Saxion spin-offs, female graduates and staff members are much less likely to start a spin-off company than their male counterparts. When females do start, their spin-offs are on average much smaller in terms of workplaces offered. Their businesses have on average an equal survival rate than those started by a male entrepreneur. Findings from the literature on the subject and the numbers found in this study suggest that there is a need for specific programs in Saxion targeting females, to at least think about starting their own business. Also, specific mentoring programs for spin-offs with female entrepreneurs may help to let these businesses grow and increase their regional economic impact. Saxion spin-offs can be found in many different sectors, something understandable given the broad spectrum of study programs in Saxion. Even though most spin-offs remain micro sized businesses, certain economic sectors seem to offer better scalable business models, especially in sectors such as industry, information and communication technology businesses and business support services. The number as well as employment in the more innovative and internationally competitive topsectors is much higher in the region Twente than in the Cleantech Region, possibly another consequence of the – apparently – stronger regional entrepreneurial ecosystem in Twente. An often-stated argument for regional economic development is that investing in spin-off companies will help to create workplaces in the region, since companies are not very likely to move. In this study, the data on migration of spin-offs have been compared with the migration of graduates, based on the HBO-monitor survey. It is not possible to one-on-one compare the two datasets, as the migration of spin-offs is calculated for the first five years of their existence and the HBO-monitor is held around one and a half year after graduation. Still, w

Saxion hogeschool daagt studenten en medewerkers uit om na te denken over de impact van technologie op mens, maatschappij en milieu. Door praktijkgericht onderzoek vinden studenten en docent-onderzoekers samen slimme oplossingen voor vraagstukken die aanleiding kunnen geven tot ondernemerschap. Onderzoek naar de impact van Saxion op ondernemerschap bepaalt in belangrijke mate de onderzoeksagenda van academies in het economisch domein en in het bijzonder van de School of Commerce & Entrepreneurship. Dit document betreft een studie naar het ondernemerschap van studenten, alumni en (oud) medewerkers van Saxion en meer specifiek op de vraag hoe de economische impact van Saxion spin-offs zich heeft ontwikkeld in de regio Twente en de Cleantechregio gedurende de periode 2011-2019. Deze regionale focus wordt bepaald door de vestigingsplaatsen van Saxion in Enschede, Deventer en Apeldoorn. Saxion draagt in toenemende mate bij aan succesvolle spin-offs in de Cleantechregio en Twente. Bovendien creëert deze spin-off een groeiende werkgelegenheid. Deze bijdrage komt tot stand doordat Saxion haar betrokkenen deelnemers op diverse manieren traint en stimuleert om een bedrijf te starten en innovatieve diensten & producten te ontwikkelen. Hoeveel (toekomstige) bedrijven daadwerkelijk opgericht en/of overgenomen worden hangt af van de sector, het succes van de deelnemers en regionale karakteristieken. Indien de spin-off in beide regio’s onderling wordt vergeleken blijkt er door de onderlinge diversiteit sprake van een zgn. ‘couleur locale’. In de periode 2011-2019 zijn in totaal 1594 bedrijven opgericht of gekocht door een Saxion student, almumni of (oud) medewerker. Van deze bedrijven zijn er in 2019 nog 1041 commercieel actief waarvan er 982 nog steeds geleid worden door een Saxion betrokkene. In 2019 leveren deze bedrijven 15743 arbeidsplaatsen waarbij de gemiddelde bedrijfsgrootte 15 arbeidsplaatsen telt. Indien we kijken naar spin-offs die nog steeds door Saxion betrokkenen worden geleid, tellen deze bedrijven een kleiner aantal personeelsleden met gemiddeld 4.9 per bedrijf in Twente en slechts 2.8 in de Cleantech regio.

This paper is a case study about location and migration patterns of university spin-offs. In this case study 1179 spin-offs of the University of Twente in the eastern part of The Netherlands have been identified and classified according to the definition of Pirnay et al. (2003) into four different types. These spin-offs have been longitudinally tracked throughout their existence, so that developments and migration patterns can be observed.There are interesting differences between different types of spin-offs in terms of their location: The spin-offs that received more explicit support from the university (for example in terms of coaching, providing of finance, IP protection, introduction into networks etc.) are more likely to stay in the region Twente, compared to the spinoffs of which the entrepreneur only got some implicit support (for example a general entrepreneurship course or maybe got in touch with inspiring entrepreneurs from existing spin-offs). Another issue explored in this paper is the often mentioned "brain drain" of spin-offs from non-core regions, as an analogy of brain drain of higher educated people from such regions. Even though firms in general are less mobile than people, it is indeed striking to see differences in firm growth in number of employees, among companies which migrate from economic non-core regions to core-regions. Migrating spin-offs from Twente to large agglomerations in The Netherlands grow on average three times faster than companies that stay in the region of origin. Still, knowledge intensive patent-based spin-offs tend to stay close to the parent university, likely because of knowledge spill-overs from the university. These findings can help university administrators to increase effectiveness of their entrepreneurship support systems, by investing in supporting different types of spin-offs with access to regional business networks, to help also less visible and lower tech spin-offs to root more in the region.

Since 2014 the EU and Russia have put in place a set of sanctions which limit trade between each other. In this study, the authors have found no serious effects of the sanctions on the regional economy of the region Twente. Some individual businesses became bankrupt, but most interviewed businesses reported that they were able to shift their sales to other markets.