University Incubator as Catalyst of Resources for Academic Spin-Offs: The Case of Arca Consortium

Today we can observe an increasing proliferation of new academic spin-off initiatives aimed to transfer knowledge from the university to the market. Due to their strategic role in enhancing the development of technological innovation, academic spin-offs can attain high levels of social performance and consonance with their environment. At the same time, they must overcome many difficulties if they are to achieve a high level of financial performance and growth. They are often considered to be mere vehicles for the transmission of knowledge, implying that their entrepreneurial potential is not fully exploited. According to the Resource Based View (RBV) the competitive disadvantage of an academic spin-off is due to a lack of resources. This paper will join this stream of research in order to analyze the financial performance of academic spin-offs. We examine the case of Arca Consortium’s incubator, established by the University of Palermo, and of the academic spin-offs it has supported and continues to assist. The empirical analysis, based on two linear regression models, is performed based on 19 case studies of spin-offs created between 2007 and 2009 by academicians of the University of Palermo.

[1]  Mike Wright,et al.  The Formation of High-Tech University Spinouts: The Role of Joint Ventures and Venture Capital Investors , 2004 .

[2]  Katleen Baeyens,et al.  The survival of venture capital backed companies , 2002 .

[3]  Frédéric Nlemvo,et al.  Toward a Typology of University Spin-offs , 2003 .

[4]  Danny P. Soetanto,et al.  Academic spin-offs at different ages: A case study in search of key obstacles to growth , 2009 .

[5]  Raymond W. Smilor,et al.  The New Business Incubator: Linking Talent, Technology, Capital and Know-How , 1986 .

[6]  Marc H. Meyer,et al.  Technology and industrial innovation in Sweden: A study of technology-based firms formed between 1965 and 1980 , 1993 .

[7]  Philip E. Auerswald,et al.  Valleys of Death and Darwinian Seas: Financing the Invention to Innovation Transition in the United States , 2003 .

[8]  B. Wernerfelt,et al.  A Resource-Based View of the Firm , 1984 .

[9]  Karel J. Samsom,et al.  University scientists as entrepreneurs: a special case of technology transfer and high-tech venturing , 1993 .

[10]  B. Carlsson.  New Knowledge: The Driving Force of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development , 2011 .

[11]  A. Sánchez,et al.  The development of university spin-offs: early dynamics of technology transfer and networking , 2003 .

[12]  L. Leydesdorff,et al.  The dynamics of innovation: from National Systems and , 2000 .

[13]  Philippe Mustar,et al.  How French academics create hi-tech companies: The conditions for success or failure , 1997 .

[14]  Scott Shane,et al.  Technological Opportunities and New Firm Creation , 2001, Manag. Sci..

[15]  Marie C. Thursby,et al.  University–incubator firm knowledge flows: assessing their impact on incubator firm performance , 2005 .

[16]  Scott Shane,et al.  Special Issue on University Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer: Organizational Endowments and the Performance of University Start-ups , 2002, Manag. Sci..

[17]  Fabrice Pirnay,et al.  A stage model of academic spin-off creation , 2002 .

[18]  Mike Wright,et al.  Technology Transfer and Universities' Spin-Out Strategies , 2003 .

[19]  B. Clarysse,et al.  Institutional change and resource endowments to science-based entrepreneurial firms , 2005 .

[20]  Harald Bathelt,et al.  A knowledge-based typology of university spin-offs in the context of regional economic development , 2010 .

[21]  Sarfraz A. Mian,et al.  Assessing and managing the university technology business incubator: An integrative framework , 1997 .

[22]  H. Etzkowitz,et al.  The Future of the University and the University of the Future: Evolution of Ivory Tower to Entrepreneurial Paradigm , 2000 .

[23]  C. Brodsky.  The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research , 1968 .

[24]  Mike Wright,et al.  Conceptualising the heterogeneity of research-based spin-offs: A multi-dimensional taxonomy , 2006 .

[25]  David Charles,et al.  Universities and Territorial Development: Reshaping the Regional Role of UK Universities , 2003 .

[26]  Aldo Geuna,et al.  L'ECONOMIA DELLA CONOSCENZA , 2010 .

[27]  David V. Gibson,et al.  University Spin-off Companies: Economic Development, Faculty Entrepreneurs, and Technology Transfer , 1993 .

[28]  M. Diane Burton,et al.  7. Coming from good stock: Career histories and new venture formation , 2002 .

[29]  Anthony G. Cohn,et al.  Qualitative Reasoning , 1987, Advanced Topics in Artificial Intelligence.

[30]  Shaker A. Zahra,et al.  The effects of business-university alliances on innovative output and financial performance: a study of publicly traded biotechnology companies , 2002 .

[31]  A. Strauss,et al.  The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research aldine de gruyter , 1968 .

[32]  Andrew Pettigrew,et al.  Longitudinal Field Research on Change , 1995 .

[33]  Peter Struss,et al.  Qualitative Reasoning , 1997, The Computer Science and Engineering Handbook.

[34]  Henry Etzkowitz,et al.  The Future Location of Research and Technology Transfer , 1999 .

[35]  Mike Wright,et al.  The creation of spin-off firms at public research institutions: Managerial and policy implications , 2005 .

[36]  Elisa Salvador.  l finanziamento delle imprese Spin-off. Un confronto fra Italia e Regno Unito , 2006 .

[37]  Andrea Piccaluga,et al.  Consistenza ed Evoluzione delle Imprese Spin-Off della Ricerca Pubblica in Italia. Rapporto di Ricerca , 2007 .

[38]  A. Pettigrew.  Longitudinal Field Research on Change: Theory and Practice , 1990 .