A resource-based view of university spin-off activity: New evidence from the Spanish case

Abstract

Universities now play a major role in regional economic and social development. This new mission is transforming the traditional university into an entrepreneurial university. This entrepreneurial activity has mainly been carried out by transferring technology to industry; in particular by creating spin-off firms. Drawing on a resource-based view, the objective of this paper is to understand why some Spanish universities are more successful than others at generating spin-offs. In order to determine the factors that influence the spin-off activity, we used a balanced panel comprising all 47 Spanish Public Universities using information that is biannually available between 2002 and 2006. The results showed that university spin-offs are significantly positively associated with industry-funded research, the tradition of the university spin-off activity, the research orientation, and the existence of incubation services in the university. Furthermore, we also found some unexpected results which highlight some peculiarities of Spain and other countries with little tradition in university entrepreneurial activity, such as the absence of the effect of a Technology Transfer Office (TTO) on spin-off production.

This study contributes to the literature on university spin-off activity. First, there are no similar empirical studies about Spanish universities. Second, we set out several policies to improve the dissemination of scientific knowledge and technology transfer activities.