Daniela Bolzani

University spin-offs and their impact: longitudinal evidence from Italy

The creation of university spin-off companies (USOs) is one of the most visible form of commercialization of university research. To date, there is scant and mixed evidence about USOs and their performance, thus producing a debate about their impact on the economy and society and about the legitimization of policies to support their development. In this paper, we address this gap by providing evidence about the growth strategies and performances of USOs in the Italian context. We analyze the population of nine hundred thirty-five USOs spin-off from Italian public universities since 2000, highlighting potential avenues for future research on this important topic.

Internationalization Intentions in Domestic New Technology-Based Firms: A Comparison Between Immigrant and Non-immigrant Entrepreneurs

Several studies have shown that immigrant entrepreneurs have a greater likelihood than native entrepreneurs of internationalizing their business. However, to date, we have only limited knowledge about whether and how domestic immigrant and native entrepreneurs differ with regard to the decision-making processes that are antecedent to internationalization behaviors. This chapter sheds light on this issue and focuses on the cognitive determinants of entrepreneurs’ intentions to internationalize. Theoretically building on intention models of entrepreneurial behavior, this work compares whether immigrant and non-immigrant entrepreneurs present heterogeneous perceptions of the feasibility and the desirability of internationalization opportunities. Comparative analyses are conducted on unique primary data that were collected from a matched-pair sample of 140 domestic foreign-born and native entrepreneurs who are active in new technology-based firms in Italy. The results show that the two groups of entrepreneurs do not differ with regard to the perceived desirability of internationalization; however, they do differ in terms of perceived feasibility. In particular, whereas the foreign-born entrepreneurs demonstrate a stronger individual-level perceived feasibility towards internationalization, they also show significantly lower perceived external support than the native entrepreneurs. The implications of these findings for research and policy are discussed.

Acculturation and Ethnic Hybridism in Immigrant Entrepreneurship

Received literature on immigrant entrepreneurship describes ethnic firms as founded to meet the needs of an ethnic community, display and use particular configurations of human and social capital drawing on ethnic resources. This is due, according to some authors, to the “acculturation lag” that characterize these entrepreneurs retaining traditional values from the heritage culture. Recent research has however shown that immigrant firms are undergoing significant changes in their organizational structures, such as the incorporation of native or non-co-ethnic partners or employees (i.e., firm multicultural hybridism). Nevertheless, research to date has not investigated whether these changes are accompanied by different acculturation patterns in entrepreneurs operating in companies characterized by different levels of multicultural hybridism. We tackle this question using a unique set of data collected with face-to-face interviews with 130 immigrant entrepreneurs in Northern Italy. Taking a cross-cultural psychological perspective, this study sheds some new light on the acculturation patterns of these different companies and suggests avenues for future research.

The creation of international social enterprises

Social enterprises are organizations that pursue social goals and adopt some form of commercial activities to generate revenues. Existing studies have emphasized, with different nuances, how social...

The Internationalization of Academic Spin-Offs: Evidence from Italy

Despite a growing interest in academic spin-offs (ASOs), research has overlooked the determinants, strategies, and outcomes of their internationalization choices. In this chapter, we review existing literature on the topic of internationalization of ASOs, connecting it to international business and international entrepreneurship literature, identifying relevant theoretical and empirical knowledge gaps. We then carry out a descriptive investigation about the characteristics and internationalization patterns of ASOs in the Italian context, drawing on a survey on 120 companies. Based on the review and our results, we highlight research areas deserving future investigation.

Desirability and Feasibility in Internationalization Intentions: Impact of Psychological Distance

In this paper, we model entrepreneur’s intentions to internationalize based on their perceptions of desirability and feasibility of such opportunities and we test how psychological distance moderate these relationships based on insights of Construal Level Theory. Recognizing that the impact of entrepreneurs’ intentions and perceptions characterize strategic choices especially in new and small firms, we test our model on a sample of 169 entrepreneurs, owners of 140 newly established, independent, technological firms. Results show that internal-driven elements of desirability and feasibility, such as attitudes and skills, rather than external-driven ones, such as social norms and external supports, drive internationalization intentions. Evaluation of internationalization under different conditions of temporal distance, i.e. in the long run vs. in the short run, modifies the relative importance of perceived desirability and feasibility on intention. We discuss potential implications for researchers, practiti...