Universities as research partners in publicly supported entrepreneurial firms

Audretsch, David B.; Leyden, Dennis Patrick; Link, Albert N.

doi:10.1080/10438599.2012.656523

“…Joint R&D projects with universities or research institutions enable access to valuable resources such as networks of scientists and laboratories (Audretsch, Leyden, and Link, ; Baba, Shichijo, and Sedita, 2009; Bstieler, Hemmert, and Barczak, ), which contribute to the creation of novel and innovative technologies (Belderbos, Carree, and Lokshin, 2004; Faems, Van Looy, and Debackere, 2005). University–industry collaboration (UIC) is therefore considered to be an engine of innovation (Cheng and Huizingh, ; Decter, Bennett, and Leseure, ; Feller, Ailes, and Roessner, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of University–Industry Collaboration on Technological Newness of Firms

Wirsich

¹

,

Kock²,

Strumann³

et al. 2016

J of Product Innov Manag

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Exploring new technological opportunities and reacting to environmental changes are key factors for firm performance. Collaborating with external partners, especially universities, is considered to be a powerful engine of technological development. However, there are several barriers associated with university-industry collaboration (UIC), such as divergent cultures and competing objectives. Previous studies show rather mixed effects regarding the purported benefits of UIC, and empirical evidence on the effects of UIC on technological newness of innovation is lacking. This study investigates whether and under which conditions UIC enhances the recombination of extant knowledge across technologies and facilitates the implementation of novel technologies at the firm level. The paper is based on the resource based view of the firm and analyzes the interaction between collaboration diversity and UIC intensity. This longitudinal analysis examines joint publications and the patent data of 318 technology-oriented companies from the S&P 500 Index in the years 1985-2007. This study focuses on technological newness as the dependent variable, defined as the extent to which new technology fields are discovered as a result of either exploration of completely new technologies or the novel combination of existing technology fields. Results show that UIC has a significant positive effect on technological newness, with a time lag of two years. The effect follows an inverted U-shaped pattern in UIC portfolios with high diversity, and a U-shaped pattern when diversity is low. Practitioner PointsUIC can lead to technological newness, e.g., new technology fields by the extension or convergence of existing technology fields.

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“…The optimal number n* of collaborators for the business enterprise will then be that number of business enterprises that sets marginal profits to zero: (6) such that: 7Note that the business enterprise's marginal revenue, ∂r(σ,n * )∂n, is the result of changes in both potential revenue p(σ, n) and the level of appropriability a(n): (8) and the business enterprise's marginal cost is dc(n * )dn. Figure 1 illustrates the partnership problem for a given business enterprise with a given σ.…”

Section: Private-sector Collaborationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This trend is likely a result of both a university response to incentives established through, for example, the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 and a response by industry to the productivity slowdown during the late 1970s and the realization that technology life cycles are shortening. 6 Nearly a decade ago, Hall et al (2000Hall et al ( , 2003 wrote that little is known about the types of roles that universities play in general in such research partnerships or about the economic consequences associated with those roles, and little has changed since then. 7 What research there is on the topic of universities as research partners focuses solely on industry motivations or on university motivations for engaging in an industry/university research relationship, but not on how the two sides interact.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We abstract from the important impact that universities have through their role in educating and graduating students.3Åstebro and Bazzazian (2011), in their wide-ranging review of the empirical literature on the impact of universities on local entrepreneurship and economic development, rightly sound a cautionary note on our ability to make definitive claims about the causal impact of universities on economic development.4 SeeLink and Scott (2005).5 SeeLink and Scott (2007),Layson et al (2008),Leyden et al (2008), and Åstebro and Bazzazian (2011) for discussions of university research parks 6. The Council onCompetitiveness (1996, pp.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Knowledge spillovers, collective entrepreneurship, and economic growth: the role of universities

Leyden

¹

,

Link

²

2013

Self Cite

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To improve our understanding of the role that universities play in facilitating the transmission of knowledge to private-sector business enterprises so as to generate economic growth, this article builds on the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship to develop a formal model of university-with-business enterprise collaborative research partnerships in which the outcome is both mutually desirable and feasible. This model shows that if a university seeks to act as a complement to private-sector collaborative R&D so that it will be attractive to both incumbent firms and startup entrepreneurs, it needs to structure its program so that business enterprise revenues increase and business enterprise R&D costs rise by a smaller proportion than revenues increase, if they rise at all (and a fall would be better). Such a structure is consistent with both business enterprise and university interests, but is only likely to be feasible if the university is subsidized to cover the cost of such public-private collaborative research partnerships. In the absence of such support, the university will have to cover its costs through a fee charged to participating business enterprises and that will result in the university being seen as a substitute rather than a complement to private-sector collaborative R&D, and thus the university will be seen as an unattractive partner for many business enterprises.

show abstract

“…This trend is likely a result of both a university response to incentives established through, for example, the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 and a response by industry to the productivity slowdown during the late 1970s and the realization that technology life cycles are shortening. 6 Nearly a decade ago, Hall et al (2000Hall et al ( , 2003 wrote that little is known about the types of roles that universities play in general in such research partnerships or about the economic consequences associated with those roles, and little has changed since then. 7 What research there is on the topic of universities as research partners focuses solely on industry motivations or on university motivations for engaging in an industry/university research relationship, but not on how the two sides interact.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge spillovers, collective entrepreneurship, and economic growth: the role of universities

Leyden¹,

Link²

2017

Universities and the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To improve our understanding of the role that universities play in facilitating the transmission of knowledge to private-sector business enterprises so as to generate economic growth, this article builds on the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship to develop a formal model of university-with-business enterprise collaborative research partnerships in which the outcome is both mutually desirable and feasible. This model shows that if a university seeks to act as a complement to private-sector collaborative R&D so that it will be attractive to both incumbent firms and startup entrepreneurs, it needs to structure its program so that business enterprise revenues increase and business enterprise R&D costs rise by a smaller proportion than revenues increase, if they rise at all (and a fall would be better). Such a structure is consistent with both business enterprise and university interests, but is only likely to be feasible if the university is subsidized to cover the cost of such public-private collaborative research partnerships. In the absence of such support, the university will have to cover its costs through a fee charged to participating business enterprises and that will result in the university being seen as a substitute rather than a complement to private-sector collaborative R&D, and thus the university will be seen as an unattractive partner for many business enterprises.

show abstract

Universities as research partners in publicly supported entrepreneurial firms

Cited by 22 publications

References 58 publications

Effects of University–Industry Collaboration on Technological Newness of Firms

Effects of University–Industry Collaboration on Technological Newness of Firms

Knowledge spillovers, collective entrepreneurship, and economic growth: the role of universities

Knowledge spillovers, collective entrepreneurship, and economic growth: the role of universities

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