Title: The stickiness of university spin-offs: a study of formal and informal spin-offs and their location from 124 US academic institutions

Authors: Gil Avnimelech; Maryann P. Feldman

Addresses: Faculty of Business Administration, Ono Academic College, 104 Tzahal, Kiryat Ono, 55000, Israel ' Department of Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Abernethy Hall, Campus Box #3435, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA

Abstract: This paper examines the cross-university variation in spin-off activity by faculty members from 124 US academic institutions, using a unique database including data on founders of both formal and informal spin-offs. Accordingly, the rate of spawning founders is positively affected by the quality of the institution and its departments, the R&D expenditure of the institution, and the strength of the local cluster. In addition, we find that institutions with higher licence revenues also have more spin-offs. In contrast to the traditional literature, we present evidence that both informal and non-local spin-offs are common and significant phenomena. Moreover, we find that the local cluster size and the university quality both increase the probability of spin-offs. However, when the relative quality of the institution is higher than the relative quality of the cluster, the probability of local academic spin-offs decreases.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; academic spawning; founders; spin-off stickiness; university spin-offs; formal spin-offs; informal spin-offs; USA; United States; academic institutions; linkedin; regional development; economic development; faculty members; academics; institutional quality; R&D expenditure; research and development; local clusters; licence revenues.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2015.068755

International Journal of Technology Management, 2015 Vol.68 No.1/2, pp.122 - 149

Published online: 29 Apr 2015 *

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