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Is there a trade-off between academic research and faculty entrepreneurship? Evidence from US NIH supported biomedical researchers

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  • Dirk Czarnitzki
  • Andrew Toole

Abstract

Is there a trade-off of scholarly research productivity when faculty members found or join for-profit firms? This paper offers an empirical examination of this question for a subpopulation of biomedical academic scientists who received research funding from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). In this study, we are able to distinguish between permanent versus temporary employment transitions by entrepreneurial faculty members and examine how their journal article publication rates change using individual-level panel data. We find that the biomedical scientists who eventually choose to found or join a for-profit firm were more productive during their careers in academe than a randomly selected control group of their NIH peers. When they pursue entrepreneurship in the private sector, however, their scholarly productivity falls. Those entrepreneurial faculty members who return to academe are not as productive as they were before their entrepreneurial experience in terms of journal publications.

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  • Dirk Czarnitzki & Andrew Toole, 2010. "Is there a trade-off between academic research and faculty entrepreneurship? Evidence from US NIH supported biomedical researchers," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(5), pages 505-520.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ecinnt:v:19:y:2010:i:5:p:505-520
    DOI: 10.1080/10438590903432848
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    6. Lin, Jun-You, 2017. "Balancing industry collaboration and academic innovation: The contingent role of collaboration-specific attributes," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 216-228.
    7. Miller, Fiona A. & French, Martin, 2016. "Organizing the entrepreneurial hospital: Hybridizing the logics of healthcare and innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 1534-1544.
    8. Pablo D’Este & Irene Ramos-Vielba & Richard Woolley & Nabil Amara, 2018. "How do researchers generate scientific and societal impacts? Toward an analytical and operational framework," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 45(6), pages 752-763.
    9. Rivera, Rene & Sampedro, Jose Luis & Dutrenit, Gabriela & Ekboir, Javier Mario & Vera-Cruz, Alexandre O., 2009. "How productive are academic researchers in agriculture-related sciences? The Mexican case," MERIT Working Papers 2009-038, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    10. Dirk Czarnitzki & Christian Rammer & Andrew Toole, 2014. "University spin-offs and the “performance premium”," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 309-326, August.
    11. Mario Coccia & Greta Falavigna & Alessandro Manello, 2015. "The impact of hybrid public and market-oriented financing mechanisms on the scientific portfolio and performances of public research labs: a scientometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(1), pages 151-168, January.
    12. Fudickar, Roman & Hottenrott, Hanna & Lawson, Cornelia, 2016. "What’s the price of consulting? Effects of public and private sector consulting on academic research," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201603, University of Turin.
    13. Lauretta Rubini & Chiara Pollio & Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & Elisa Barbieri, 2021. "Heterogeneous effects of spinoff foundations on the means of technology transfer: the role of past academic-industry collaborations," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(1), pages 261-292, April.
    14. Deschryvere, Matthias, 2009. "A Comparative Survey of Structural Characteristics of Finnish University Departments," Discussion Papers 1195, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    15. French, Martin & Miller, Fiona Alice, 2012. "Leveraging the “living laboratory”: On the emergence of the entrepreneurial hospital," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(4), pages 717-724.
    16. Kolympiris, Christos & Kalaitzandonakes, Nicholas & Miller, Douglas, 2015. "Location choice of academic entrepreneurs: Evidence from the US biotechnology industry," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 227-254.
    17. Roman Fudickar & Hanna Hottenrott & Cornelia Lawson, 2018. "What’s the price of academic consulting? Effects of public and private sector consulting on academic research," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(4), pages 699-722.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    academic entrepreneurship; SBIR; NIH; biomedical research; life scientist productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • L53 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Enterprise Policy

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