Entrepreneurship from the Ivory Tower: Do Incentive Systems Matter?

There has been a paucity of research to date that has explored whether incentive systems--in the form of monetary payments to inventors, their department or institution, or to university technology transfer office (UTTO) personnel--affect entrepreneurial activities at U.S. universities. To shed light on whether financial incentives to scientists, their departments, and UTTO personnel effect entrepreneurial activity, we used both qualitative data (structured interviews with 128 UTTO directors) and quantitative data from surveys and databases available on the web. Our results show surprisingly and opposite to our theoretical predictions that incentives to scientists and to their departments are negatively related to entrepreneurial activity. In addition and consistent with theory-based predictions, pay to UTTO personnel is positively related to entrepreneurial activity. We conclude with a discussion that offers some implications to research, practice, and theory in the field of technology transfer.