University-Industry Collaborations and Academic Entrepreneurship: East Meets West

Dear Colleagues,

The social and economic benefits of converting academic research into practical applications are undisputable. Hence, the issue of science commercialization is receiving considerable interest among policy makers and scholars across many fields. Two distinct literatures, examining the intersections between scientific research and commercial application, relate to university-industry collaboration and academic entrepreneurship. Research on such topics -in these two domains- shares many of the same underlying issues: overcoming cultural differences between academia and industry (Sauermann and Stephan, 2012), managing technological and market uncertainties (Gans and Stern, 2003), and leveraging resources and support from diverse stakeholders (Rasmussen et al., 2011). And yet, those topics are rarely considered jointly and these literatures seldom refer to each other.

In addition to the need to bridge the gaps between these two streams of literature, we are lacking sufficient attention to inter-institutional comparative perspectives (Fini and Grimaldi, 2017). With the widening relevance of the role played by the various ways through which the knowledge produced in public institution is transferred to society, different policies and legislations have been implemented around the world to promote technology transfer. While great attention has been paid to the effects of the Bayh-Dole act and some of its “imitations” in the western world (Grimaldi et al., 2011), the evidence on what is happening in Asia and in other parts of the world is still confined to national debates. This lack of comparative analyses and the overwhelming attention paid to US and European based studies and samples is strongly limiting our theoretical, empirical and practically knowledge on different elements such as, for example, the role of inter-institutional differences, the importance of local adaptation, the relevance of enablers, the similarity vs. differentiation of organizational forms and solutions.

Following a series of five annual EuroAsia gatherings organized since 2012 (please see below the Workshop section for further information), this special issue seeks to bring together scholars of university-industry collaboration and academic entrepreneurship to start filling these gaps.

We look for contributions to advance theoretical development and empirical understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship involving university research, with a particular emphasis on a comparative analysis perspective. We are particularly looking for contributions related to the following three themes:

1. The engaged scientist and their research team. The key actor in both university-industry collaborations and academic entrepreneurship is the scientist or research team developing the knowledge or technology (Perkmann et al., 2013). Potential research questions include how different types of scientists and research teams engage in research commercialization (Hughes and Kitson, 2012), the antecedents and consequences of such engagement (Fini et al., 2009), and the interplay of different modes of engagement.
2. The innovative firm. Science commercialization involves an innovative firm, either as a collaboration partner for universities or in the instance of academic entrepreneurship where a new spin-off firm is established. Key research issues include how both new and established firms manage their relationship with universities (Rasmussen et al., 2014), how they develop new science-based technologies and identify markets (Gans and Stern, 2003), and how they mobilize tangible and intangible resources to sustain the commercialization process (Villanueva et al., 2012).
3. The entrepreneurial ecosystem. The context is increasingly emphasized as crucial for the initiation and successful outcome of university-industry collaboration and academic entrepreneurship (Foss and Gibson, 2015). The notion of an ecosystem has become a popular conceptualization of the complex interplay of many different actors in promoting the creation of new business activity (Stam, 2015). In our context, potential research may involve the role of government and intermediary actors for science commercialization (Fini et al., 2016), the role of regional dimensions on science commercialization (Slavtchev, 2013), and the economic and societal impacts of different science commercialization efforts (Perkmann et al., 2015).

Workshop

A workshop entitled “University-Industry Collaborations and Academic Entrepreneurship: East meets West”, hosted at the Bologna Business School on 5–6 June 2017, is linked to this special issue. For further information, please refer to https://events.unibo.it/workshop-uic-east-west-bologna and/or get in touch at the following email: [email protected].

References

Fini, R., K. Fu, M. T. Mathisen, E. Rasmussen and M. Wright 2016. Institutional determinants of university spin-off quantity and quality: a longitudinal, multilevel, cross-country study. Small Business Economics: 1-31.

Fini R., and R. Grimaldi R. 2017. Process approach to academic entrepreneurship: evidence from the globe, World Scientific Publishing, ISBN 978-981-4733-42-7 (v4);

Fini, R., R. Grimaldi and M. Sobrero 2009. Factors fostering academics to start up new ventures: an assessment of Italian founders’ incentives. The Journal of Technology Transfer 34(4): 380-402.

Foss, L. and D. v. Gibson 2015. The Entrepreneurial University: Context and Institutional Change: Routledge.

Gans, J. S. and S. Stern 2003. The product market and the market for "ideas": commercialization strategies for technology entrepreneurs. Research Policy 32(2): 333-350.

Grimaldi, R., M. Kenney, D. S. Siegel and M. Wright 2011. 30 years after Bayh–Dole: Reassessing academic entrepreneurship. Research Policy 40(8): 1045-1057.

Hughes, A. and M. Kitson 2012. Pathways to impact and the strategic role of universities: new evidence on the breadth and depth of university knowledge exchange in the UK and the factors constraining its development. Cambridge Journal of Economics 36(3): 723-750.

Perkmann, M., R. Fini, J.-M. Ross, A. Salter, C. Silvestri and V. Tartari 2015. Accounting for universities’ impact: using augmented data to measure academic engagement and commercialization by academic scientists. Research Evaluation 24(4): 380-391.

Perkmann, M., V. Tartari, M. McKelvey, E. Autio, A. Broström, P. D’Este, R. Fini, A. Geuna, R. Grimaldi, A. Hughes, S. Krabel, M. Kitson, P. Llerena, F. Lissoni, A. Salter and M. Sobrero 2013. Academic engagement and commercialisation: A review of the literature on university–industry relations. Research Policy 42(2): 423-442.

Rasmussen, E., S. Mosey and M. Wright 2011. The Evolution of Entrepreneurial Competencies: A Longitudinal Study of University Spin-Off Venture Emergence. Journal of Management Studies 48(6): 1314-1345.

Rasmussen, E., S. Mosey and M. Wright 2014. The influence of university departments on the evolution of entrepreneurial competencies in spin-off ventures. Research Policy 43(1): 92-106.

Sauermann, H. and P. Stephan 2012. Conflicting Logics? A Multidimensional View of Industrial and Academic Science. Organization Science 24(3): 889-909.

Slavtchev, V. 2013. Proximity and the Transfer of Academic Knowledge: Evidence from the Spatial Pattern of Industry Collaborations of East German Professors. Regional Studies 47(5): 686-702.

Stam, E. 2015. Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Regional Policy: A Sympathetic Critique. European Planning Studies 23(9): 1759-1769.

Villanueva, J., A. H. Van de Ven and H. J. Sapienza 2012. Resource mobilization in entrepreneurial firms. Journal of Business Venturing 27(1): 19-30.

Riccardo Fini
Einar Rasmussen
Maurizio Sobrero
Guest Editors