Title: Factors fostering entrepreneurial universities to develop academic entrepreneurship activities: an assessment of European universities

Authors: Leire Markuerkiaga; Juan Ignacio Igartua; Nekane Errasti

Addresses: Mechanical and Manufacturing Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mondragon University, Arrasate-Mondragon 20500, Gipuzkoa, Spain ' Mondragon University, Arrasate-Mondragon 20500, Gipuzkoa, Spain ' Mondragon University, Arrasate-Mondragon 20500, Gipuzkoa, Spain

Abstract: The university is a specially propitious site for innovation due to such basic features as its high rate of flow through human capital (Etzkowitz, 2003). Although it is evident that entrepreneurship within the university augurs well for the host institution and for its external environment (Meyers and Pruthi, 2011), there is still a lack of agreement regarding what constitutes an entrepreneurial university. This paper tries to fill this gap, identifying the most critical factors that condition the entrepreneurial university. The methodology adopted to develop this empirical analysis consisted of a self-devised questionnaire which was used for data gathering at the European level. Building on this collected data, the relationships between independent and dependent variables integrating the proposed entrepreneurial university model were analysed. The research outcomes showed that networking, mobility and staff development in entrepreneurship were the most relevant factors for promoting economic and social development through academic entrepreneurship activities.

Keywords: entrepreneurial universities; academic entrepreneurship; technology transfer; university-industry cooperation; industrial collaboration; European universities; innovation; networking; mobility; staff development; economic development; social development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTTC.2014.072680

International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, 2014 Vol.13 No.1/2, pp.107 - 132

Received: 08 May 2014
Accepted: 21 Oct 2014
Published online: 24 Oct 2015 *

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