IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v32y2014i2p341-359.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Entrepreneurial Academics and Regional Innovation Systems: The Case of Spin-Offs from London's Universities

Author

Listed:
  • Helen Lawton Smith

    (Department of Management, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, England)

  • Dave Chapman

    (Management Science and Innovation, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, England)

  • Peter Wood

    (Department of Geography, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, England)

  • Timothy Barnes

    (UCL Advances, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, England)

  • Saverio Romeo

    (Department of Management, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, England)

Abstract

In this paper we explore the spin-off process from London's universities using a regional innovation systems (RIS) framework. We examine the pattern of spin-offs in the context of changes in institutional support systems, both within the universities and in the London region. The majority of the university-related spin-offs are small and medium-sized enterprises concentrated in biomedical sectors, as elsewhere. However, over a third have left London. We explore these patterns, the implications for understanding the role of universities in RIS, and consequent policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Helen Lawton Smith & Dave Chapman & Peter Wood & Timothy Barnes & Saverio Romeo, 2014. "Entrepreneurial Academics and Regional Innovation Systems: The Case of Spin-Offs from London's Universities," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 32(2), pages 341-359, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:32:y:2014:i:2:p:341-359
    DOI: 10.1068/c11159b
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/c11159b
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/c11159b?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mike Wright & Bart Clarysse & Philippe Mustar & Andy Lockett, 2007. "Academic Entrepreneurship in Europe," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 4041.
    2. Dominic Power & Anders Malmberg, 2008. "The contribution of universities to innovation and economic development: in what sense a regional problem?," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 1(2), pages 233-245.
    3. Ann Markusen, 2003. "Fuzzy Concepts, Scanty Evidence, Policy Distance: The Case for Rigour and Policy Relevance in Critical Regional Studies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(6-7), pages 701-717.
    4. Feldman, Maryann P. & Audretsch, David B., 1999. "Innovation in cities:: Science-based diversity, specialization and localized competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 409-429, February.
    5. G. M.P. Swann, 2009. "The Economics of Innovation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13211.
    6. Simon Mosey & Mike Wright, 2007. "From Human Capital to Social Capital: A Longitudinal Study of Technology–Based Academic Entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(6), pages 909-935, November.
    7. Feldman, Maryann P, 2001. "The Entrepreneurial Event Revisited: Firm Formation in a Regional Context," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 10(4), pages 861-891, December.
    8. Ian R. Gordon & Philip McCann, 2000. "Industrial Clusters: Complexes, Agglomeration and/or Social Networks?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 37(3), pages 513-532, March.
    9. Alessandra Faggian & Philip McCann, 2009. "Human capital, graduate migration and innovation in British regions," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 33(2), pages 317-333, March.
    10. Peter Wood, 2009. "Service Competitiveness and Urban Innovation Policies in the UK: The Implications of the 'London Paradox'," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(8), pages 1047-1059.
    11. Helen Lawton Smith & Rupert Waters, 2011. "Scientific Labour Markets, Networks and Regional Innovation Systems," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(7), pages 961-976.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Véronique Schaeffer & Mireille Matt, 2016. "Development of academic entrepreneurship in a non-mature context: the role of the university as a hub-organisation," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(9-10), pages 724-745, October.
    2. Adam Warren & Michael Hoyler & Morag Bell, 2016. "From ‘shadowy cabal’ to new profession: Networks of cooperation and competition in UK Higher Education fundraising," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(5), pages 837-854, August.
    3. Prokop, Daniel, 2021. "University entrepreneurial ecosystems and spinoff companies: Configurations, developments and outcomes," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    4. Lee, Hsing-fen & Miozzo, Marcela, 2024. "Beyond complementarity and substitutability? Understanding relational governance and formal contracts in university-industry collaborations for innovation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    5. Robert Huggins & Daniel Prokop & Piers Thompson, 2020. "Universities and open innovation: the determinants of network centrality," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 718-757, June.
    6. Susanne Pankov & Vivek K. Velamuri & Dirk Schneckenberg, 2021. "Towards sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems: examining the effect of contextual factors on sustainable entrepreneurial activities in the sharing economy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1073-1095, February.
    7. Peter Jelfs & Helen Lawton Smith, 2021. "Financial performance studies of university spin-off companies (USOs) in the West Midlands," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 46(6), pages 1949-1972, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Neil Lee & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2013. "Original Innovation, Learnt Innovation and Cities: Evidence from UK SMEs," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(9), pages 1742-1759, July.
    2. Ron Boschma & Ron Martin, 2010. "The Aims and Scope of Evolutionary Economic Geography," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Christopher S. Hayter, 2016. "A trajectory of early-stage spinoff success: the role of knowledge intermediaries within an entrepreneurial university ecosystem," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 633-656, October.
    4. Crescenzi, Riccardo & Gagliardi, Luisa, 2015. "Moving people with ideas - innovation inter-regional mobility and firm heterogeneity," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 64509, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Nobuaki HAMAGUCHI & Keisuke KONDO, 2015. "Fresh Brain Power and Quality of Innovation in Cities: Evidence from the Japanese patent database," Discussion papers 15108, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    6. Elvira Cerver-Romero & João J. Ferreira & Cristina Fernandes, 2020. "A scientometric analysis of knowledge spillover research," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 780-805, June.
    7. Christopher S. Hayter, 2015. "Social Networks and the Success of University Spin-offs," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 29(1), pages 3-13, February.
    8. Robert Tijssen & Wouter van de Klippe & Alfredo Yegros, 2020. "Localization, regionalization and globalization of university‐business research co‐operation in the United Kingdom," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(5), pages 1215-1236, October.
    9. Clément Gorin, 2016. "Patterns and determinants of inventors' mobility across European urban areas," Working Papers halshs-01313086, HAL.
    10. Bruneel, Johan & Clarysse, Bart & Bobelyn, Annelies & Wright, Mike, 2020. "Liquidity events and VC-backed academic spin-offs: The role of search alliances," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(10).
    11. Wipo, 2011. "World Intellectual Property Report 2011- The Changing Face of Innovation," WIPO Economics & Statistics Series, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division, number 2011:944, April.
    12. Carlino, Gerald & Kerr, William R., 2015. "Agglomeration and Innovation," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 349-404, Elsevier.
    13. Pierpaolo Parrotta & Dario Pozzoli & Mariola Pytlikova, 2014. "The nexus between labor diversity and firm’s innovation," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(2), pages 303-364, April.
    14. Doloreux, David & Parto, Saeed, 2005. "Regional innovation systems: Current discourse and unresolved issues," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 133-153.
    15. Lawrence A. Plummer & Zoltán J. Ács, 2015. "Localized competition in the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 8, pages 145-160, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Pier Paolo Patrucco, 2005. "The emergence of technology systems: knowledge production and distribution in the case of the Emilian plastics district," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 29(1), pages 37-56, January.
    17. Kuckertz, Andreas & Scheu, Maximilian, 2024. "From chalkboard to boardroom: Unveiling the role of entrepreneurship in bolstering academic achievement among professors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    18. Rosina Moreno & Ernest Miguélez, 2012. "A Relational Approach To The Geography Of Innovation: A Typology Of Regions," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 492-516, July.
    19. Helen Lawton Smith & Rupert Waters, 2019. "Universities, graduates and local labour markets," Working Papers 41, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised Feb 2021.
    20. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Tobias D. Ketterer, 2012. "Do Local Amenities Affect The Appeal Of Regions In Europe For Migrants?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 535-561, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:32:y:2014:i:2:p:341-359. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.