The Bayh-Dole Act and scientist entrepreneurship

Much of the literature examining the impact of the Bayh-Dole Act has been based on the impact on patenting and licensing activities emanating from offices of technology transfer. Studies based on data generated by offices of technology transfer, suggest a paucity of entrepreneurial activity from university scientists in the form on new startups. There are, however, compelling reasons to suspect that the TTO generated data may not measure all, or even most of scientist entrepreneurship. Rather than relying on measures of scientist entrepreneurship reported by the TTO and compiled by AUTM, this study instead develops alternative measures based on the commercialization activities reported by scientists. In particular, the purpose of this paper is to provide a measure of scientist entrepreneurship and identify which factors are conducive to scientist entrepreneurship and which factors inhibit scientist entrepreneurship. This enables us to compare how scientist entrepreneurship differs from that which has been established in the literature for the more general population. We do this by developing a new database measuring the propensity of scientists funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to commercialize their research as well as the mode of commercialization. We then subject this new university scientist-based data set to empirical scrutiny to ascertain which factors influence both the propensity for scientists to become an entrepreneur. The results suggest that scientist entrepreneurship may be considerably more robust than has generally been indicated in studies based on TTO data.     

The effectiveness of university knowledge spillovers: Performance differences between university spinoffs and corporate spinoffs

While much prior research has focused upon how the Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) and other contextual characteristics shape the level of university spinoffs (USO), there is little research on entrepreneurial potential among individual academics, and to the best of our knowledge, no comparative studies with other types of spinoffs exist to date. In this paper we focus on an important but neglected aspect of knowledge transfer from academic research involving the indirect flow to entrepreneurship by individuals with a university education background who become involved in new venture creation by means of corporate spinoffs (CSO) after gaining industrial experience, rather than leaving university employment to found a new venture as an academic spinoff. We argue that the commercial knowledge gained by industry experience is potentially more valuable for entrepreneurial performance compared to the academic knowledge gained by additional research experience at a university. This leads us to posit that the average performance of CSOs will be higher than comparable USOs, but the gains from founder‘s prior experiences will be relatively higher among USOs whose founders lack the corporate context. We investigate these propositions in a comparative study tracking the complete population of USOs and CSOs among the Swedish knowledge-intensive sectors between 1994 and 2002.     

30 years after Bayh–Dole: Reassessing academic entrepreneurship

On the 30th anniversary of enactment of the Bayh–Dole Act in the U.S., we consider the rationale for academic entrepreneurship and describe the evolving role of universities in the commercialization of research. We also discuss and appraise the effects of legislative reform in several OECD countries relating to academic entrepreneurship. The article synthesizes papers from the special section and outlines an agenda for additional research on various aspects of academic entrepreneurship in terms of system, university and individual levels. We also consider measurement and methodological issues that must be addressed in additional research.     

Complements or substitutes? The role of universities and local context in supporting the creation of academic spin-offs

In this paper, we analyze the extent to which University-Level Support Mechanisms (ULSMs) and Local-Context Support Mechanisms (LCSMs) complement or substitute for each other in fostering the creation of academic spin-offs. Using a sample of 404 companies spun off from the 64 Italian Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics universities (STEM universities) over the 2000–2007 period, we show that the ULSMs’ marginal effect on universities’ spin-off productivity may be positive or negative depending on the contribution offered by different LCSMs. Specifically, in any given region, ULSMs complement the legislative support offered to high-tech entrepreneurship whereas they have a substitution effect with regard to the amount of regional social capital, regional financial development, the presence of a regional business incubator, regional public R&D expenses as well as the level of innovative performance in the region. Results support the idea that regional settings’ idiosyncrasies should be considered for universities to develop effective spin-off support policies. This paper contributes to the debate on the evaluation of economic policies supporting entrepreneurship.     

Changes to university IPR regulations in Europe and the impact on academic patenting

This article develops a general framework to describe the changes in university IPR regulations in Europe and their effects on the patenting activities of universities and on knowledge transfer processes. Understanding the effects of changes in IPR regulations on academic patenting is a complex issue, and parallels with the US case can be misleading. First, despite the general trend towards institutional ownership, university IPR regulations in Europe remain extremely differentiated and there is no one-to-one mapping to the US system. Second, it is difficult to disentangle the quantitative and qualitative effects of changes in IPR ownership regulations on academic patenting activities from the effects of concurrent transformations in the institutional, cultural and organizational landscape surrounding academic knowledge transfer. The article proposes a review and typological classification of national university IPR ownership systems on the basis of their development since 2000, and uses it to analyze the aggregate dynamics of academic patent ownership in several European countries. The analysis of patterns of ownership of academic patents shows that there has been a general increase in university patenting since 1990, with a significant slowdown (and even reduction in some countries) after early 2000s accompanied by a switch in academic patents ownership in favor of university ownership though preserving the European specificity of high company ownership of academic invented patents.     

Has the Bayh-Dole act compromised basic research?

We examine three hypotheses regarding the effects of the Bayh-Dole Act on research effort of faculty. The first hypothesis we call the status quo hypothesis and it asserts that there has been no effect on research profiles. The second hypothesis, which we call the negative hypothesis, asserts that faculty have been diverted from their traditional role in basic research toward research with more commercial potential. Our final hypothesis is derived from prior theoretical work that suggests that both basic and applied research is greater when faculty can benefit from commercialization of their research effort; we refer to this as the positive hypothesis. The data we examine are the research and invention disclosure of faculty at 8 US universities over the period 1983–1999. Using a citation based measure of basic research publications we relate basic research effort to invention disclosures. Our findings are clear in that they do not show any support for the negative hypothesis and they show substantially greater support for the positive hypothesis than for the status quo hypothesis.     

The effects of knowledge management on innovative success – An empirical analysis of German firms

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effects of knowledge management on the innovation success of firms in Germany. We look at innovative firms in the period from 2000 to 2002 taken from the Mannheim Innovation Panel and estimate the effect of collaborative measures of knowledge management on the immediate economic success of different types of innovations. The results of our matching analysis reveal that firms which apply knowledge management perform better in terms of higher-than-average shares of turnover with innovative products compared to their twins. We do not find a significant effect of knowledge management on the share of cost reductions with process innovation.     

Experienced entrepreneurial founders, organizational capital, and venture capital funding

This paper empirically investigates the sourcing and valuation of venture capital (VC) funding among entrepreneurs with varied levels of prior start-up founding experience, academic training, and social capital. Social ties with VCs have been identified as an important precursor to organizational resource attainment and performance, and so this study analyzes the correlates of heterogeneous social links with VCs. I also examine venture valuation, as it reflects enterprise quality and entrepreneurs’ cost of financial capital. Using data from a survey of 149 early stage technology-based start-up firms, I find several notable results. First, prior founding experience (especially financially successful experience) increases both the likelihood of VC funding via a direct tie and venture valuation. Second, founders’ ability to recruit executives via their own social network (as opposed to the VC's network) is positively associated with venture valuation. Finally, in the emerging (at the time) Internet industry, founding teams with a doctoral degree holder are more likely to be funded via a direct VC tie and receive higher valuations, suggesting a signaling effect. The paper therefore underscores some important dimensions of heterogeneity among VC-backed entrepreneurs.     

Knowledge coherence, variety and economic growth: Manufacturing evidence from Italian regions

This paper elaborates a view on knowledge as a result of a combinatorial search activity, so as to investigate its effects on economic growth at the regional level. Empirical estimations corroborate the hypothesis that knowledge coherence and variety, besides the traditional measure of knowledge stock, matter in shaping regional economic performances. The check for spatial dependence suggests that cross-regional externalities exert additional triggering effects on growth, without debasing the effects of knowledge properties. Important policy implications stem from the analysis, in that regional innovation strategies should be carefully coordinated so as to reach a higher degree of internal coherence and trigger economic performances.     

Public science and public innovation: Assessing the relationship between patenting at U.S. National Laboratories and the Bayh-Dole Act

Most studies of the effects of the Bayh-Dole Act have focused on universities. In contrast, we analyze patenting activity at two prominent national laboratories, Sandia National Laboratories and the National Institute of Standards and Technology before and after the enactment of this legislation and the Stevenson-Wydler Act. It appears as though the enactment of Bayh-Dole and the Stevenson-Wydler Act were not sufficient to induce an increase in patenting at these labs. However, the establishment of financial incentive systems, embodied in passage of the Federal Technology Transfer Act, as well as the allocation of internal resources to support technology transfer, stimulated an increase in such activity.     

Does inventor ownership encourage university research-derived entrepreneurship? A six university comparison

This paper examines whether university ownership of inventions made by its personnel best serves the widely held social goals of encouraging technology commercialization and entrepreneurship. Using a hand-collected census of technology-based university spin-offs from six universities, one of which is the University of Waterloo and the only inventor ownership university in North America, we compare the number and type of spin-offs produced by these universities. We find suggestive evidence that inventor ownership universities can be more efficient in generating spin-offs on both per faculty and per R&D dollar expended perspective. We find that the field of computer sciences and electrical engineering generates a greater number of spin-offs than do our other two categories – the biomedical sciences, and the field of engineering and the physical sciences. In general, our results demonstrate that inventor ownership can be extremely productive of spin-offs. From these results, we suggest that governments seeking to encourage university invention commercialization and entrepreneurship should experiment with an inventor ownership system.     

Globalization of R&D by US-based multinational enterprises

This paper examines patterns and determinants of overseas R&D investment by US-based manufacturing MNEs using a new panel dataset over the period 1990–2004. The analysis reveals that R&D intensity of operation of US MNE affiliates is determined mainly by the domestic market size, overall R&D capability and cost of hiring R&D personnel. There is no evidence to suggest that R&D specific incentives have a significant impact on inter-country differences in R&D intensity when controlled for other relevant variables. Overall, our findings cast doubts on the efficacy of efforts by host country governments to entice MNE affiliates to engage in domestic R&D activity, in a context where R&D is becoming a truly global activity.     

Estimates of patent rents from firm market value

The value of patent rents is an important quantity for policy analysis. However, estimates in the literature based on patent renewals might be understated. Market value regressions could provide validation, but they have not had clear theoretical foundations for estimating patent rents. I develop a simple model to make upper-bound estimates of patent rents using regressions on Tobin's Q. I test this on a sample of US firms and find it robust to a variety of considerations. Estimates from market value regressions correspond well with estimates based on patentee behavior generally, but renewal estimates might be understated for pharmaceuticals.     

How to play the “Names Game”: Patent retrieval comparing different heuristics

Patent statistics represent a critical tool for scholars, statisticians and policy makers interested in innovation and intellectual property rights. Many analyses are based on heterogeneous methods delineating the inventors’ or firms’ patent portfolios without questioning the quality of the method employed. We assess different heuristics in order to provide a robust solution to automatically retrieve inventors in large patent datasets (PATSTAT). The solution we propose reduces the usual errors by 50% and casts doubts on the reliability of statistical indicators and micro-econometric results based on common matching procedures. Guidelines for researchers, TTOs, firms, venture capitalists and policy makers likely to implement a names game or to comment on results based on a names game are also provided.     

信息技术赋能创业:IT 能力对创业绩效的影响

大数据、人工智能等新一代信息技术正不断渗透和改变着创业行为和结果,为新创企业发展带来机遇与挑战。目前,企业的信息技术能力对创业活动的影响研究仍处于探索阶段。本文基于创业机会理论与资源依赖理论,考察IT能力对创业绩效的影响机制,探讨创业机会识别与开发的中介作用以及数字化业务强度的调节作用。实证分析发现：IT设施运用能力、IT业务跨越能力和IT前瞻性立场等三种IT能力均有助于提升创业绩效;创业机会识别与开发在3种IT能力与创业绩效间扮演中介角色;数字化业务强度在IT能力和创业机会识别与开发间发挥正向调节作用,并进一步调节创业机会识别与开发在3种IT能力与创业绩效间的中介作用,即：数字化业务强度越高,创业机会识别与开发的中介效应越显著。本研究丰富了信息技术赋能创业的研究内容,有助于推进信息技术在创业理论与实践中的运用。     

Are you too young for the Nobel Prize?

Although age is not supposed to be a criterion for the award of the Nobel Prize, it is commonly believed that it does play a role. Indeed, econometric evidence in this paper also suggests such a role. However, the paper finds that, if there is a preference for older Nobel candidates, this is introduced during the nomination process. The paper actually finds that the Nobel Committee does not favor older nominees and that, if anything, it seems to partially offset the age premium introduced by the nominators.     

创新创业政策对早期创业行为的作用机制研究

本文首先建立了创新创业政策对微观创业行为作用机制的理论框架,在此基础上采用2007-2016年间58个国家的580个观测样本开展经验验证,验证了创新创业政策对早期创业行为的调节作用。研究结果表明：（1）创业资本和能够感知的创业机会对早期创业行为有着显著的正向影响;（2）创新创业政策并非直接作用于创业活动,而是通过增强创业资本和创业机会对早期创业行为的正向影响,发挥了重要的调节作用;（3）国家发展阶段、创新创业相关基础设施建设情况和创新创业文化也对全社会的早期创业行为发挥了重要影响。研究结果丰富了创业行为研究的内容,也为结合创业行为特征开展创新创业政策制定提供了决策参考。     

组织创新、技术创新能力对企业绩效的影响研究

组织创新和技术创新能力是学者长期关注的热点问题之一。文章基于资源基础观的视角,将技术创新能力分解为产品创新能力和工艺流程创新能力,探讨组织创新和技术创新能力对企业绩效的影响。在对沈阳、大连、长春等市174家工业制造类企业进行问卷调研、数据分析的基础上构建结构方程对组织创新、技术创新能力和企业绩效间的关系进行实证检验,研究结果表明:组织创新可以促进产品创新能力和工艺流程创新能力的发展,但组织创新与产品创新能力之间的关系受到工艺流程创新能力的调节;组织创新和技术创新能力都对企业绩效有正向影响;产品创新能力作为一种组织创新实践,对企业绩效有直接影响,但工艺流程创新能力对企业绩效的影响受到产品创新能力的调节作用。     

创业者先前工作经验与新企业初期绩效关系研究

 利用天津市2006年申请“科技型中小企业创新基金项目”的新企业数据,考察创业者先前工作经验与新企业绩效之间的关系。研究结论显示,新企业能否取得较好绩效的关键并不在于创业者有无先前工作经验,而是取决于拥有什么样的工作经验。首先,工作经验的性质,即工作经验与创业者在新企业中所承担工作的匹配性越高,新企业初期绩效越好,但工作经验与新企业所处行业的匹配性对绩效并无显著影响。第二,不同职能类型的工作经验对初期绩效有不同的影响,研发经验显著正向影响初期绩效,但市场营销、财务、一般管理和生产运营管理经验则无显著影响。最后,创业者工作经验的职能多样性有利于新企业绩效。     

The persistence of entrepreneurship and innovative immigrants

Ethnicity and immigration status may play a role in entrepreneurship and innovation, yet the impact of university entrepreneurship education on this relationship is under-explored. This paper examines the persistence and differences in entrepreneurship by ethnicity and nationality. We find that among Stanford alumni, Asian Americans have a higher rate of entrepreneurship than white Americans. However, non-American Asians have a substantially lower, about 12% points lower, start-up rate than Asian Americans. Such discrepancy not only holds for entrepreneurial choice but also for investing as an angel investor or venture capitalist, or utilizing Stanford networks to find funding sources or partners. Participation in Stanford University’s entrepreneurship program as a student does little to reduce this gap. The low level of parental entrepreneurship and the high degree of intergenerational correlation in entrepreneurship likely result in the lower level of entrepreneurship and participation in university entrepreneurship programs among Asians relative to their Asian American counterparts. Our findings highlight the value of immigration in terms of breaking the persistence in entrepreneurship among certain ethnic groups and promoting potential high-growth entrepreneurship in the United States. In addition, our findings may have important implications for programs to incorporate immigrant entrepreneurs within their home countries to promote entrepreneurship and help break the persistence of entrepreneurship across generations.