Startups by recent university graduates and their faculty: Implications for university entrepreneurship policy

Earlier research on the role of universities in fostering entrepreneurial economic development almost exclusively covers spin-offs by faculty and staff. In contrast, we provide general evidence from the U.S. showing that the gross flow of start-ups by recently graduated students with an undergraduate degree in science or engineering is at least an order of magnitude larger than the spin-offs by their faculty, that a recent graduate is twice as likely as her Professor to start a business within three years of graduation, and that the graduates’ spin-offs are not of low quality. Three case studies illustrate how universities may stimulate science and engineering students and recent graduates to create new firms of high quality. We conclude that transforming university goals and practices toward increasing start-ups led by faculty might not be the most effective way for universities to stimulate entrepreneurial economic development.     

How journal rankings can suppress interdisciplinary research: A comparison between Innovation Studies and Business & Management

This study provides quantitative evidence on how the use of journal rankings can disadvantage interdisciplinary research in research evaluations. Using publication and citation data, it compares the degree of interdisciplinarity and the research performance of a number of Innovation Studies units with that of leading Business & Management Schools (BMS) in the UK. On the basis of various mappings and metrics, this study shows that: (i) Innovation Studies units are consistently more interdisciplinary in their research than Business & Management Schools; (ii) the top journals in the Association of Business Schools’ rankings span a less diverse set of disciplines than lower-ranked journals; (iii) this results in a more favourable assessment of the performance of Business & Management Schools, which are more disciplinary-focused. This citation-based analysis challenges the journal ranking-based assessment. In short, the investigation illustrates how ostensibly ‘excellence-based’ journal rankings exhibit a systematic bias in favour of mono-disciplinary research. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications of these phenomena, in particular how the bias is likely to affect negatively the evaluation and associated financial resourcing of interdisciplinary research organisations, and may result in researchers becoming more compliant with disciplinary authority over time.     

Bond graph based sensitivity and uncertainty analysis modelling for micro-scale multiphysics robust engineering design

Components within micro-scale engineering systems are often at the limits of commercial miniaturization and this can cause unexpected behavior and variation in performance. As such, modelling and analysis of system robustness plays an important role in product development. Here, schematic bond graphs are used as a front end in a sensitivity analysis based strategy for modelling robustness in multi-physics micro-scale engineering systems. As an example, the analysis is applied to a behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid.By using bond graphs to model power flow through components within different physical domains of the hearing aid, a set of differential equations to describe the system dynamics is collated. Based on these equations, sensitivity analysis calculations are used to approximately model the nature and the sources of output uncertainty during system operation. These calculations represent a robustness evaluation of the current hearing aid design and offer a means of identifying potential for improved designs of multiphysics systems by way of key parameter identification.     

Linguistic metrics for patent disclosure: Evidence from university versus corporate patents

Encouraging disclosure is important for the patent system, yet the technical information in patent applications is often inadequate. We use algorithms from computational linguistics to quantify the effectiveness of disclosure in patent applications. Relying on the expectation that universities have more ability and incentive to disclose their inventions than corporations, we analyze 64 linguistic measures of patent applications, and show that university patents are more readable by 0.4 SD of a synthetic measure of readability. Results are robust to controlling for non-disclosure-related invention heterogeneity. The linguistic metrics are evaluated by a panel of “expert” student engineers and further examined by USPTO 112(a) – lack of disclosure – rejection. The ability to quantify disclosure opens new research paths and potentially facilitates improvement of disclosure.     

National Systems of Entrepreneurship: Measurement issues and policy implications

We introduce a novel concept of National Systems of Entrepreneurship and provide an approach to characterizing them. National Systems of Entrepreneurship are fundamentally resource allocation systems that are driven by individual-level opportunity pursuit, through the creation of new ventures, with this activity and its outcomes regulated by country-specific institutional characteristics. In contrast with the institutional emphasis of the National Systems of Innovation frameworks, where institutions engender and regulate action, National Systems of Entrepreneurship are driven by individuals, with institutions regulating who acts and the outcomes of individual action. Building on these principles, we also introduce a novel index methodology to characterize National Systems of Entrepreneurship. The distinctive features of the methodology are: (1) systemic approach, which allows interactions between components of National Systems of Entrepreneurship; (2) the Penalty for Bottleneck feature, which identifies bottleneck factors that hold back system performance; (3) contextualization, which recognizes that national entrepreneurship processes are always embedded in a given country's institutional framework.     

国外管理科学期刊综合排名研究比较及其启示

本文比较分析国外学者对管理科学期刊综合排名研究的结果,评价三种排名方法,指出期刊获得好排名需要有研究能力强的编辑、好的审稿政策和宗旨等多方面的因素,文章接受率和期刊排名好坏没有因果关系。     

PolarityRank: Finding an equilibrium between followers and contraries in a network

In this paper we present the relevance ranking algorithm named PolarityRank. This algorithm is inspired in PageRank, the webpage relevance calculus method used by Google, and generalizes it to deal with graphs having not only positive but also negative weighted arcs. Besides the definition of our algorithm, this paper includes the algebraic justification, the convergence demonstration and an empirical study in which PolarityRank is applied to two unrelated tasks where a graph with positive and negative weights can be built: the calculation of word semantic orientation and instance selection from a learning dataset.     

Interrelation between patenting and standardisation strategies: empirical evidence and policy implications

This paper analyses the relationship between strategies to protect intellectual property rights and their impact on the likelihood of joining formal standardisation processes. It is based on a small sample of European companies. On the one hand, theory suggests that the stronger the protection of own technological know-how, the higher the likelihood to join formal standardisation processes in order to leverage the value of the technological portfolio. On the other hand, companies at the leading edge are often in such a strong position that they do not need the support of standards to market their products successfully. The results of the Probit models to explain the likelihood to join standardisation processes support the latter theoretical hypothesis: the higher the patent intensities of companies, the lower is their tendency to join standardisation processes.     

Implementing Bayh-Dole-like laws: Faculty problems and their impact on university patenting activity

The implementation of a Bayh-Dole-like legislation outside the US is still a major concern that needs to be addressed. I fill this gap in two ways. First, I report the results of a faculty survey on obstacles to patenting activity in Italian universities, targeted both to inventors and to those non-inventors which reported to engage in university patenting activity and to give up before any patents could be filed. Second, I investigate their effect in a regression model using universities’ patent counts as the dependent variable. Results show that obstacles to university patenting activity reduce to four dimensions: lack of support mechanisms (including insufficient reward for researchers, lack of a TTO, lack of funds to cover patenting costs), commercialisation problems, too heavy teaching and administrative duties, and personal/cultural problems (related to the scarce knowledge of institutional-level patent regulations and to the “open science” mentality of the university). Among them, however, only the lack of support by the university administration reduces the patent counts. Publication productivity has an inverted U-shaped relation with patent counts, but the overall effect is still largely positive, given the current publication levels.     

The expanding role of university patenting in the life sciences: assessing the importance of experience and connectivity

We extend debates about the sources of university capabilities at research commercialization. Drawing upon quantitative data for a panel of 89 research-intensive US universities and interview data from two academic licensing offices, we model the relationship between technology transfer experience, embeddedness in biotechnology industry networks, basic science quality and capacity, and citation impact measures of university life science patents. Technology licensing officers draw upon the expertise of corporate partners to evaluate the potential impact of invention disclosures. The information gleaned through network ties to industry enables well-connected institutions to develop higher impact patent portfolios. Reaping the benefits of such connections, however, requires experience in balancing academic and corporate priorities to avoid the danger of ‘capture’ by industrial interests as overly tight connections limit patent impact. This pattern of diminishing returns to connectivity is robust across multiple citation measures of patent quality.     

The creation of spin-off firms at public research institutions: Managerial and policy implications

We consider the managerial and policy implications of the rise of spin-offs at public research institutions (PRIs), based on a knowledge-based view (KBV) of the firm. This framework highlights the importance of knowledge in the creation and development of spin-offs. We argue that in order to understand the development of spin-offs, researchers should focus on “knowledge gaps” these new ventures encounter. Knowledge gaps can occur at different levels of aggregation, including the PRI, spin-off, team, individual, incubator, and at different stages of spin-off development. Based on this framework, we synthesize findings from previous studies and papers in the special issue and offer some suggestions for additional research on spin-offs from PRIs.     

Innovation spaces: Workspace planning and innovation in U.S. university research centers

This paper reports findings of a study designed to test whether differences in spatial layout of research offices and labs (workspace planning) affects face-to-face technical consultations, and ultimately innovation process outcomes in research settings critical to government supported innovation strategies—university research centers (URCs). The study involved a mixed-method (multivariate predictive and multiple case comparison) evaluation of six organizationally similar but spatially different URCs. Data analysis revealed relationships between workspace planning, consultations and innovation process outcomes. Multivariate analyses showed that configurational accessibility, visibility and walking distances significantly affect the frequencies and locations of unprogrammed face-to-face consultations. Cross-case comparisons revealed that URCs featuring overall high configurational accessibility, shorter walking distances and intact territories exhibit higher face-to-face consultation rates, consultation network connectivity, and subjective/objective innovation process outcomes. Implications for research policy, practice and research are discussed.     

大学科技园发展战略制定的影响因素评价指标体系研究

大学科技园战略的确定是大学科技园如何发展的核心与本质,有着深远的意义。结合大学科技园发展的内外部环境,从统计学角度出发,建立一套相对完整的大学科技园战略制定的指标体系,同时基于层次分析法,对各项指标进行定性与定量的分析,使大学科技园在战略制定的过程中避免不利因素,充分利用有利因素,更好的发展。     

Opening the ivory tower's door: An analysis of the determinants of the formation of U.S. university spin-off companies

This paper presents findings from an analysis of the determinants of the formation of university spin-off companies within the university's research park. We find that university spin-off companies are a greater proportion of the companies in older parks and in parks that are associated with richer university research environments. We also find that university spin-off companies are a larger proportion of companies in parks that are geographically closer to their university and in parks that have a biotechnology focus.     

我国高校知识产权管理问题成因与改进

从我国高校知识产权管理的基础数据出发,分析了我国高校知识产权管理中存在的问题及原因,提出政策建议,包括:调整我国的专利资助和管理政策;设置独立的商业化运作的技术转移办公室;建立专利申报评估制度;制定具体的知识产权管理政策;提升知识产权管理的专业化水平;加紧引进和培养知识产权管理的专业人才。     

简论高校中层管理者的组织承诺与压力管理之关系

文章在阐述组织承诺与压力管理的概念解析和关系认识基础上,同时基于对组织承诺与压力管理的问题进行诊断,从组织层面提出了两者的关系优化路径。     

In search of query patterns: A case study of a university OPAC

A transaction log analysis of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) OPAC was conducted to identify query and search failure patterns with the goal of identifying areas of improvement for the system. One semester’s worth of OPAC transaction logs were obtained and from these, 641,991 queries were extracted and used for this work. Issues investigated included query length, frequency and type of search options and Boolean operators used as well as their relationships with search failure. Among other findings, results indicate that a majority of the queries were simple, with short query lengths and a low usage of Boolean operators. Failure analysis revealed that on average, users had an almost equal chance of obtaining no records or at least one record to a submitted query. We propose enhancements and suggest future areas of work to improve the users’ search experience with the NTU OPAC.     

The role of knowledge codification in the emergence of consensus under uncertainty: empirical analysis and policy implications

The aim of the article is to empirically analyse the main factors, which allow the emergence of consensus. Moreover, we raise the question of the nature of the codified process involved which seems to be too reducing to promote knowledge flows within the community and, therefore, to contribute to learning processes and better choices about the future. Our analysis relies on a prospective investigation based on a Delphi type study carried out by BETA in 1994.     

Invention characteristics and the degree of exclusivity of university licenses: The case of two leading French research universities

This paper examines the determinants of university exclusive versus non-exclusive licenses. We specifically focus on the effect of the characteristics of the licensed invention (i.e. stage of development, specificity and appropriability). We rely on a unique and original dataset of 91 inventions contained in 62 intellectual property licensing contracts executed in the period of 2005–2014 by two leading French research universities. We cannot find a significant relation between the characteristics of the invention and the degree of exclusivity. In particular, as opposed to theoretical predictions, embryonic inventions are not significantly linked to more exclusive licenses and generic inventions are not significantly linked to non-exclusive licenses. Furthermore, inventions that are both generic and embryonic are not significantly linked to exclusive licenses per field of use. These results, although still exploratory, contribute to feed the discussion about the performance of university-industry technology transfer since they suggest that performance might be improved by taking more into account the characteristics of the licensed invention.