The survival of academic spinoff companies: An empirical study of key determinants

The formation of university spinoff companies has been studied extensively, yet limited attention has been devoted to their survival. Consequently, little is known about spinoff’s later stage developments. Spinoff companies exist in university networks where they access resources through different types of actors. However, it remains unclear on which actors specifically these firms should focus their networking efforts, especially in relation to their success. It is also poorly understood how the regional economic environment affects spinoff survival. This article examines the core determinants of survival of academic spinoff companies. The article analyses a unique sample of 870 UK spinoff companies from 81 universities formed between 2002 and 2013. The results show that spinoff company survival is dependent on three core university network actors: investors, external entrepreneurs and technology transfer offices (TTOs). In addition, spinoff companies born into less industrially diversified regions enjoy greater probability of survival.

[1]  A. Parmentola,et al.  Neither absent nor too present: the effects of the engagement of parent universities on the performance of academic spin-offs , 2019 .

[2]  María Jesús Rodríguez-Gulías,et al.  The role of knowledge spillovers on the university spin-offs innovation , 2018 .

[3]  Sarfraz A. Mian,et al.  University technology commercialization through new venture projects: an assessment of the French regional incubator program , 2018 .

[4]  Sergio Rubio,et al.  Re-thinking university spin-off: a critical literature review and a research agenda , 2018 .

[5]  Silvio Vismara,et al.  Do academic spinoffs internationalize? , 2018, The Journal of Technology Transfer.

[6]  R. Burt,et al.  A Note on Business Survival and Social Network , 2018, Management and Organization Review.

[7]  M. Sobrero,et al.  The university as a venture capitalist? Gap funding instruments for technology transfer , 2018 .

[8]  Riccardo Fini,et al.  Institutional determinants of university spin-off quantity and quality: a longitudinal, multilevel, cross-country study , 2017 .

[9]  Anthony Howell.  Marshallian Sources of Relatedness and Their Effects on Firm Survival and Subsequent Success in China , 2017 .

[10]  H. Etzkowitz,et al.  Female academic entrepreneurship and commercialisation: reviewing the evidence and identifying the challenges , 2017 .

[11]  Sara Fernández‐López,et al.  The effect of university and regional knowledge spillovers on firms’ performance: an analysis of the Spanish USOs , 2017 .

[12]  R. Huggins,et al.  Network structure and regional innovation: A study of university–industry ties , 2017 .

[13]  R. Huggins,et al.  Entrepreneurship and the determinants of firm survival within regions: human capital, growth motivation and locational conditions , 2017 .

[14]  Yongjie Zhang,et al.  Network of listed companies based on common shareholders and the prediction of market volatility , 2016 .

[15]  Alex Coad.  Firm age: a survey , 2016 .

[16]  S. Tavassoli,et al.  Survival of entrepreneurial firms: the role of agglomeration externalities , 2016 .

[17]  Ciara Fitzgerald,et al.  Inside the university technology transfer office: mission statement analysis , 2016 .

[18]  Peter Jelfs.  Financial performance analysis of spin-off companies from a UK 'regional' university: a case study of the University of Birmingham , 2016 .

[19]  Exploring the Links between Employment Clusters and Economic Diversity in the British Urban System , 2016 .

[20]  Christopher S. Hayter.  A trajectory of early-stage spinoff success: the role of knowledge intermediaries within an entrepreneurial university ecosystem , 2016 .

[21]  J. P. Diánez-González,et al.  How management team composition affects academic spin-offs’ entrepreneurial orientation: the mediating role of conflict , 2016 .

[22]  Xiaohui Shi,et al.  Sustainability and Scalability of University Spinouts: A Business Model Perspective , 2016 .

[23]  R. Huggins,et al.  Socio-Spatial Culture and Entrepreneurship: Some Theoretical and Empirical Observations , 2016 .

[24]  Alessandra Tognazzo,et al.  Signaling in academic ventures: the role of technology transfer offices and university funds , 2016 .

[25]  Christopher S. Hayter.  Constraining entrepreneurial development: : A knowledge-based view of social networks among academic entrepreneurs , 2016 .

[26]  Onno S. W. F. Omta,et al.  Bridging ties and the role of research and start-up experience on the early growth of Dutch academic spin-offs , 2015 .

[27]  M. Wright,et al.  The transformation of network ties to develop entrepreneurial competencies for university spin-offs , 2015 .

[28]  Donato Iacobucci,et al.  How to evaluate the impact of academic spin-offs on local development: an empirical analysis of the Italian case , 2015 .

[29]  Nola Hewitt-Dundas.  Profiling UK University Spin-outs , 2015 .

[30]  M. Wright,et al.  The survival of newly-incorporated companies and founding director characteristics , 2014 .

[31]  Tommaso Minola,et al.  “To have and have not”: founders’ human capital and university start-up survival , 2013, The Journal of Technology Transfer.

[32]  Riccardo Fini,et al.  Fifteen Years of Academic Entrepreneurship in Italy: Evidence from the Taste Project , 2014 .

[33]  Georgios Fotopoulos,et al.  On the spatial stickiness of UK new firm formation rates , 2014 .

[34]  Dave Chapman,et al.  Entrepreneurial Academics and Regional Innovation Systems: The Case of Spin-Offs from London's Universities , 2014 .

[35]  Mats Lundqvist,et al.  The importance of surrogate entrepreneurship for incubated Swedish technology ventures , 2014 .

[36]  D. Pittino,et al.  Founding team composition and early performance of university—Based spin-off companies , 2014 .

[37]  R. Fairlie,et al.  Immigration and Entrepreneurship , 2015, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[38]  Christopher S. Hayter.  Conceptualizing knowledge-based entrepreneurship networks: perspectives from the literature , 2013 .

[39]  Graciela Kuechle,et al.  An Assessment of the Determinants of University Technology Transfer , 2013 .

[40]  Christopher S. Hayter.  Harnessing University Entrepreneurship for Economic Growth , 2013 .

[41]  Uwe Cantner,et al.  Scientists’ transition to academic entrepreneurship: Economic and psychological determinants , 2012 .

[42]  M. Mckelvey,et al.  Investigating the complexity facing academic entrepreneurs in science and engineering: the complementarities of research performance, networks and support structures in commercialisation , 2012 .

[43]  Ron Boschma,et al.  Regional variety and employment growth in Italian labour market areas: services versus manufacturing industries , 2012 .

[44]  B. Clarysse,et al.  The Evolution of Business Incubators: Comparing demand and supply of business incubation services across different incubator generations , 2012 .

[45]  Olav Sorenson,et al.  Home Sweet Home: Entrepreneurs' Location Choices and the Performance of Their Ventures , 2010, Manag. Sci..

[46]  Ammon Salter,et al.  The impact of entrepreneurial capacity, experience and organizational support on academic entrepreneurship , 2011 .

[47]  David B. Audretsch,et al.  The Bayh-Dole Act and scientist entrepreneurship , 2011 .

[48]  Mike Wright,et al.  Entrepreneurial Origin, Technological Knowledge, and the Growth of Spin‐Off Companies , 2011 .

[49]  Stefano Paleari,et al.  Valuing University–Based Firms: The Effects of Academic Affiliation on IPO Performance , 2011 .

[50]  Mike Wright,et al.  The Effectiveness of University Knowledge Spillovers: Performance Differences between University Spinoffs and Corporate Spinoffs , 2011 .

[51]  Riccardo Fini,et al.  Complements or Substitutes? The Role of Universities and Local Context in Supporting the Creation of Academic Spin-offs , 2010 .

[52]  Jonathan Levie,et al.  Founder's human capital, external investment, and the survival of new high-technology ventures , 2010 .

[53]  Richard T. Harrison,et al.  Voodoo Institution or Entrepreneurial University? Spin-off Companies, the Entrepreneurial System and Regional Development in the UK , 2010 .

[54]  P. S. Vincett.  The economic impacts of academic spin-off companies, and their implications for public policy , 2010 .

[55]  Gillian Irene Bristow,et al.  Resilient regions: re-'place'ing regional competitiveness , 2010 .

[56]  I. Stone,et al.  An analysis of new firm survival using a hazard function , 2010 .

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

[58]  R. Huggins.  Forms of Network Resource: Knowledge Access and the Role of Inter-Firm Networks , 2009 .

[59]  Stefan Krabel,et al.  What drives scientists to start their own company?: An empirical investigation of Max Planck Society scientists , 2009 .

[60]  Junfu Zhang,et al.  The performance of university spin-offs: an exploratory analysis using venture capital data , 2009 .

[61]  Akbar Zaheer,et al.  Network Evolution: The Origins of Structural Holes , 2009 .

[62]  Åsa Lindholm Dahlstrand,et al.  Creating an Entrepreneurial Region: Two Waves of Academic Spin-offs from Halmstad University , 2009 .

[63]  Riccardo Fini,et al.  Inside or Outside the IP-System? Business Creation in Academia , 2008 .

[64]  H. Smith,et al.  Oxfordshire biomedical university spin-offs: an evolving system , 2008 .

[65]  M. Wright,et al.  University spin-off firms: Lessons from ten years of experience in Europe , 2008 .

[66]  R. Huggins.  Universities and knowledge-based venturing: finance, management and networks in London , 2008 .

[67]  Mike Wright,et al.  From Human Capital to Social Capital: A Longitudinal Study of Technology–Based Academic Entrepreneurs , 2007 .

[68]  Will Mitchell,et al.  Precarious collaboration: Business survival after partners shut down or form new partnerships , 2007 .

[69]  Antonio Capaldo.  Network Structure and Innovation: The Leveraging of a Dual Network as a Distinctive Relational Capability , 2006 .

[70]  Elizabeth Webster,et al.  Innovation, Technological Conditions and New Firm Survival , 2006 .

[71]  Thomas Ritter,et al.  The impact of network capabilities and entrepreneurial orientation on university spin-off performance , 2006 .

[72]  Mike Wright,et al.  University Spin-Out Companies and Venture Capital , 2006 .

[73]  Andy Naranjo,et al.  Value, Survival, and the Evolution of Firm Organizational Structure , 2006 .

[74]  E. Garnsey,et al.  High‐technology clustering through spin‐out and attraction: The Cambridge case , 2005 .

[75]  Mike Wright,et al.  Resources, capabilities, risk capital and the creation of university spin-out companies , 2005 .

[76]  Richard T. Harrison,et al.  Maximising the Potential of University Spin-Outs: The Development of Second-Order Commercialisation Activities , 2005 .

[77]  P. Benneworth,et al.  University spin-off policies and economic development in Less successful regions: Learning from two decades of policy practice , 2005 .

[78]  P. Wynarczyk,et al.  The Performance of Business Incubators and their Potential Development in the North East Region of England , 2005 .

[79]  M. Wright,et al.  Spinning Out New Ventures: A Typology of Incubation Strategies from European Research Institutions , 2005 .

[80]  Elias G. Carayannis,et al.  Architecting gloCal (global–local), real-virtual incubator networks (G-RVINs) as catalysts and accelerators of entrepreneurship in transitioning and developing economies: lessons learned and best practices from current development and business incubation practices , 2005 .

[81]  A. Grandi,et al.  Business incubators and new venture creation: an assessment of incubating models , 2005 .

[82]  Rodney X. Sturdivant,et al.  Applied Logistic Regression: Hosmer/Applied Logistic Regression , 2005 .

[83]  Yael V. Hochberg,et al.  Whom You Know Matters: Venture Capital Networks and Investment Performance , 2004 .

[84]  N. Bosma,et al.  The Value of Human and Social Capital Investments for the Business Performance of Startups , 2004 .

[85]  Edward B. Roberts,et al.  Overcoming Weak Entrepreneurial Infrastructures for Academic Spin-Off Ventures , 2004 .

[86]  C. Mason,et al.  What do Investors Look for in a Business Plan? , 2004 .

[87]  Scott Shane,et al.  Academic Entrepreneurship: University Spinoffs and Wealth Creation , 2004 .

[88]  Mike Wright,et al.  Critical junctures in the development of university high-tech spinout companies , 2004 .

[89]  Rosa Grimaldi,et al.  Exploring the Networking Characteristics of New Venture Founding Teams: A Stdy of Italian Academic Spin-off , 2003 .

[90]  S. Borgatti,et al.  The Network Paradigm in Organizational Research: A Review and Typology , 2003 .

[91]  Scott Shane,et al.  When do start-ups that exploit patented academic knowledge survive? , 2003 .

[92]  D. Bower.  Business Model Fashion and the Academic Spinout Firm , 2003 .

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

[94]  R. Lambert,et al.  Lambert Review of Business-University Collaboration: Final Report , 2003 .

[95]  Raphael Amit,et al.  Venture‐Capital Syndication: Improved Venture Selection vs. The Value‐Added Hypothesis , 2002 .

[96]  J. Mata,et al.  The survival of new domestic and foreign‐owned firms , 2002 .

[97]  Julie M. Hite,et al.  The evolution of firm networks: from emergence to early growth of the firm , 2001 .

[98]  Mike Wright,et al.  Academic and Surrogate Entrepreneurs in University Spin-out Companies , 2001 .

[99]  N. Lin.  Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action , 2001 .

[100]  Steven Klepper,et al.  The Making of an Oligopoly: Firm Survival and Technological Change in the Evolution of the U.S. Tire Industry , 2000, Journal of Political Economy.

[101]  Hannu Littunen,et al.  Networks and Local Environmental Characteristics in the Survival of New Firms , 2000 .

[102]  B. Kogut.  The network as knowledge : Generative rules and the emergence of structure , 2000 .

[103]  R. Gulati.  Network location and learning: the influence of network resources and firm capabilities on alliance formation , 1999 .

[104]  Mark P. Taylor,et al.  SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST? AN ANALYSIS OF SELF- EMPLOYMENT DURATION IN BRITAIN* , 1999 .

[105]  Arjen van Witteloostuijn,et al.  Human capital, social capital, and firm dissolution , 1998 .

[106]  D. Reibstein,et al.  Bridging Behavioral and Economic Theories of Decline: Organizational Inertia, Strategic Competition, and Chronic Failure , 1998 .

[107]  D. Teece,et al.  DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT , 1997 .

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

[109]  R. Cressy,et al.  Are Business Startups Debt-Rationed? , 1996 .

[110]  P. Geroski.  What do we know about entry , 1995 .

[111]  B. Kogut,et al.  Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology , 1992 .

[112]  J. Barney.  Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage , 1991 .

[113]  J. Coleman.  Foundations of Social Theory , 1990 .

[114]  S. Borgatti,et al.  LS sets, lambda sets and other cohesive subsets , 1990 .

[115]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING AND INNOVATION , 1990 .

[116]  Murray Z. Frank.  An Intertemporal Model of Industrial Exit , 1988 .

[117]  John Hudson,et al.  The Age, Regional, and Industrial Structure of Company Liquidations , 1987 .

[118]  Jitendra V. Singh,et al.  Organizational Legitimacy and the Liability of Newness , 1986 .

[119]  M. Hannan,et al.  Structural Inertia and Organizational Change , 1984 .

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

[121]  Boyan Jovanovic.  Selection and the evolution of industry , 1981 .

[122]  L. Freeman.  Centrality in social networks conceptual clarification , 1978 .

[123]  Henri Theil,et al.  Statistical Decomposition Analysis: With Applications in the Social and Administrative Sciences , 1972 .

[124]  G. Becker,et al.  A Theory of the Allocation of Time , 1965 .

[125]  S. Winter.  Economic "Natural Selection" and the Theory of the Firm , 1964 .

[126]  A. Alchian.  Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory , 1950, Journal of Political Economy.