Title: R&D activity of university spin-offs: comparative analysis through the measurement of their economic impact

Authors: Patricia P. Iglesias Sánchez; M. Carmen Jambrino Maldonado

Addresses: Faculty of Economics and Business Studies, Malaga University, 6, Ejido Street, P.O. 29071 Málaga, Spain ' Faculty of Economics and Business Studies, Malaga University, 6, Ejido Street, P.O. 29071 Málaga, Spain

Abstract: University spin-offs have become one of the main mechanisms for transferring technology from universities, so this paper measures the economic impact of their R&D activity. An indicator system was proposed, based on the recommendations of the OECD, which was validated using a factor analysis. The empirical study was performed with a sample of spin-offs from public universities and comparisons were made with the companies included in the R&D survey carried out by the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE). The results showed that research and development activities and their results are making university spin-offs a more strategic tool than other types of companies.

Keywords: university spin-offs; entrepreneurship; technology transfer; knowledge transfer; innovation policy; R&D activity; research and development; technology-based firms; TBFs; competitiveness; indicators; industry-science relationship; economic impact; Spain.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2015.070244

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2015 Vol.18 No.1, pp.45 - 64

Published online: 01 Jul 2015 *

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