Entrepreneurial universities and spin-out companies. (1st October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Harlow, Chris
• Is Part Of: International journal of technology management & sustainable development. Volume 20:Number 3(2021)
• Page Start: 285
• Page End: 303
• Publication Date: 2021-10-01
• Subjects: Sustainable development -- Periodicals; Technology -- Management -- Periodicals; 333.714
• DOI: 10.1386/tmsd_00046_1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1474-2748

Abstract

Records show that some universities have been more successful in the formation of knowledge-based spin-out companies than the average institution since government policies dictated that universities should become more entrepreneurial. Out of the approximately 130 universities in Britain, ten of those founded more than 100 years ago recorded nearly half of the spin-outs formed in the early twenty-first century and surviving three years or more. This article examines the methods used at some 30 universities in order to query the reasons for success. Several possible explanations are considered with the judgement being that, although a range of factors may have been influential, it has been the impact of the environmental conditions of their foundations and growth, the access to research resources and the educational circumstances into which they were born and then grew, which has been one of the most important in determining the success achieved by different British universities.