Entrepreneurial universities in two European regions: a case study comparison

An entrepreneurial university is a natural incubator that tries to provide a supportive environment in which the university community can explore, evaluate and exploit ideas that could be transformed into social and economic entrepreneurial initiatives. Entrepreneurial universities are involved in partnerships, networks and other relationships to generate an umbrella for interaction, collaboration and co-operation. Rapid developments in science, the multidisciplinary nature of frontier research, legislative changes such as the Bayh–Dole Act and demands from business and society have shaped knowledge-based entrepreneurship within universities. Despite sharing similar historical backgrounds, economic conditions and cultural and social structures, entrepreneurial universities in most countries remain distinct from one another by their institutional arrangements, traditions and characteristics unique to each organization. Interestingly, no comparative research has been conducted to understand the similarities and differences of the conditioning factors and the outcomes/outputs of entrepreneurial universities in different regions that share similar social, economic and political conditions. This paper addresses this research deficit, adopting institutional economics and resource-based view. We compare entrepreneurial universities in two European regions (Spain and Ireland) using an in-depth qualitative approach based on multiple case studies (two Spanish universities and two Irish universities) between 2006 and 2010. The findings provide organizational practices and approaches relevant to the transformation process of other regional universities seeking to become entrepreneurial.     

Technology commercialization in entrepreneurial universities: the US and Russian experience

US universities are leading the way in technology commercialization, while universities in Russia lag far behind. This paper discusses the best American practices, as well as the main issues of technology commercialization at the US universities. As an example, we consider the experience of the University of Maryland, College Park. In the next section, we turn to technology commercialization in Russia, where it struggles for several reasons. In this paper, we propose that Russia can improve its technology commercialization by studying the example of the leading US entrepreneurial universities and implementing proper procedures. And the important overarching point is that Russian universities need to improve their collaboration with industry, and they need to develop new standards of administrative, research, and business activity that will promote innovation and entrepreneurship.     

Innovative activities and investment decision: evidence from European firms

The Journal of Technology Transfer - This paper investigates the role of innovative activity and other micro determinants, on firms’ investment behaviour. The empirical analysis is based on a...     

University knowledge and firm innovation: evidence from European countries

In recent decades, firms have intensified the exploration of external sources of knowledge to enhance their innovation capabilities. This paper presents an empirical analysis of the factors that affect the importance of academic knowledge for firms’ innovation activities. An integrated approach that simultaneously considers country- and firm-level factors is adopted. Regarding the former factors, the analysis shows that the entrepreneurial orientation of university and the quality of academic research increase the importance of knowledge transfers from universities to firms. This suggests that the environmental and institutional context contributes to cross-national disparities in university-industry interactions and the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. In regard to the latter factors, the results indicate that firms oriented toward open search strategies and radical innovations are more likely to draw knowledge from universities. Furthermore, firms belonging to high technology sectors and firms with high absorptive capacity place greater value on the various links with universities. With respect to firm size, the estimates show an inverted U-shaped relation with the importance of universities as a source of knowledge.     

Knowledge transfer from universities to low- and medium-technology industries: evidence from Italian winemakers

The Journal of Technology Transfer - The aim of the study is to explore the links that firms from low and medium technology (LMT) industries establish with universities for innovative purposes....     

Universities and the success of entrepreneurial ventures: evidence from the small business innovation research program

There has been little direct, systematic empirical analysis of the role that universities play in enhancing the success of entrepreneurial ventures. We attempt to fill this gap by analyzing data from the US SBIR program, a ??set-aside?? program that requires key federal agencies (e.g., Department of Defense) to allocate 2.5% of their research budget to small firms that attempt to commercialize new technologies. Based on estimation of Tobit and negative binomial regressions of the determinants of commercial success, we find that start-ups with closer ties to universities achieve higher levels of performance.     

Tax relief,tax wedge and regional employment: evidence from Italy

In this paper I overview the legislative framework, referred to the Italian policies of tax relief on labour income and Fiscalizzazione, then I investigate the impact of the tax wedge on regional employment in Italy. The results show a negative effect, especially in the northern regions, due to the presence of a developed decentralized bargaining level that may lead to mechanisms of real wage resistance with negative consequences on employment, not only in the short term. The evidence suggests a differentiated effect not only among regions but also among sectors that might suggests to focus these policies on regions and sectors where the effect of the tax wedge on employment is greater, other than to promote the development of a second-level bargaining even in the South that could take into account local labour productivity changes.     

The effects of cognitive distance in university-industry collaborations: some evidence from Italian universities

Universities have long been involved in knowledge transfer activities and are increasing their efforts to collaborate with industry. However, universities vary enormously in the extent to which they promote, and succeed in commercializing, academic research. In this paper, we focus on the concept of cognitive distance, intended as differences in the sets of basic values, norms and mental models in universities and firms. We assess the impact of cognitive distance on university-industry collaborations. Based on original data from interviews with 197 university departments in Italy, our analysis determines whether cognitive distance is perceived as a barrier to university-industry interactions, and estimates its effects on the frequency of their collaborations. Our results confirm that cognitive, albeit not affecting the probability of departments to collaborate with firms, significantly hinders the frequency of interactions.     

The contribution of universities to growth: empirical evidence for Italy

New entrepreneurial ventures may represent a viable and effective mechanism to transform academic knowledge into regional economic growth. We test this notion for the Italian provinces between 2001 and 2006. We evaluate three outputs of academic activities: teaching, research and intellectual property rights activities. New ventures may be able to transform the mentioned outputs into improved economic performance. The findings show that the effects of academic outputs on provincial economic growth (all sectors) are appreciable when they are associated with sustained entrepreneurial activities in the province. It suggests that academic inquiry may provide new ventures with valuable commercial opportunities overseen by established companies.     

Innovation effects of universities of applied sciences: an assessment of regional heterogeneity

The Journal of Technology Transfer - The literature on the economics of science and technology shows that academic universities—institutions focusing on basic research—positively affect...     

Assessing the effectiveness of tax administration in macroeconomic stability: evidence from 26 European Countries

Economic Change and Restructuring - The purpose of this paper is the assessment and comparative analysis of the relative efficiency of the tax administrations of 26 European countries in 2017,...     

Research universities as actors in the governance of local and regional development

In the increasingly competitive, knowledge-based economy, universities have a variety of potential roles for stimulating economic development beyond teaching, research and technology development. In this article we focus on universities’ role as actors in the governance of local and regional development. Using recently developed theories about the emergence of heterarchical governance, we discuss the motivations, interests, structural arrangements, and contingent conditions for universities becoming actors and partners in steering regional economic development policy and contributing to regional problem-solving, and explore the how university involvement may increase the effectiveness of governance processes. We test several hypotheses and draw lessons for the design and participation of governance arrangements. Our results suggest that individual leadership initiatives and the quality or interpersonal working relationships among leaders may be more important than the particular structural arrangements for producing effective governance outcomes.     

Bottom-level organizational changes within entrepreneurial and engaged models of university: insights from Italy

We analyze the way in which individual academics and research groups organize their third mission activities before and after the institutionalization of third mission strategies by the university governing body. Drawing on the literature, we put forward an interpretative framework that links central entrepreneurial or engaged strategies with the way academics organize their third mission activities. Then, we propose an application of this frame to the case of the University of Florence (Italy), before and after its transition to more structured entrepreneurial and engaged models. We use a mix of quantitative and qualitative analysis. A cluster analysis allows identifying different types of academics involved in the third mission based on the way they organize their activities. Furthermore, a set of interviews to academics complements the comparison and the interpretation of the clusters obtained. The following paths of change emerge: (1) increased proportion of academics involved in third mission activities; (2) bottom-level initiatives that are aligned with central strategies; and (3) increased heterogeneity of bottom-level organization forms, with a relative loss of importance of the group dimension with respect to the individual academics and an increased specialization of research groups.

     

Time efficiency as a measure of court performance: evidence from the Court of Justice of the European Union

European Journal of Law and Economics - This work proposes an alternative measure of court performance, namely, time efficiency, which is equal to the length of a verdict divided by the time needed...