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

Abstract

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.

Sustainable university entrepreneurship: Revisiting firm growth patterns

“…However, for the USOs' employment growth, the estimated coefficients show a positive impact on almost all the quantiles, and especially in the lower quantiles. The findings referred to employment growth are partly consistent with those of van Geenhuizen et al (2015), Fernández‐López et al (2019), Sciarelli et al (2021) and Vega‐Gómez et al (2020). Given that the firm size has been measured as the growth in sales, these results suggest that the USOs' employment growth requires growth in sales.…”

Unmasking intellectual capital from gender and nationality diversity on university spin-offs’ boards: a study on non-linear effects upon firm innovation

“…Similarly, since USOs can be defined as firms founded by individuals from the academic community, their directors are generally scholars, researchers or Ph.D. students of the organization in which the USO is based (e.g. Vega-Gómez et al. , 2020).…”

“…Similarly, since USOs can be defined as firms founded by individuals from the academic community, their directors are generally scholars, researchers or Ph.D. students of the organization in which the USO is based (e.g. Vega-G omez et al, 2020). Hence, the gender composition of organizations' workforce could affect the presence of female directors in USOs.…”

Impact of social environment indicators on students´propensity to do business: Case study from central European countries

“…While entrepreneurs in developed economies can seek VC or angel investment, entrepreneurs in emerging economies often need to pursue potential government funding opportunities (Armanios et al, 2017). Vega-Gómez et al (2020) showed that the business size and the public support in the field of training and bureaucracy are the main elements that affect success. Rodríguez-Gulías et al (2020) found the good effect of government on entrepreneurial intention and business creation.…”