Laura Ramaciotti

The Determinants of Academic Spin‐Off Creation by Italian Universities

The aim of this work is to investigate the university level determinants of academic spin‐off (ASO) firm creation in Italy. We are interested in particular in the relationship between university funding and the university propensity to create spin‐offs, and test the effect of public and third‐party funds on this tendency. We estimate the effect of several variables for the characteristics of the university and the context. In contrast to our expectations, results indicate that third‐party funding does not exert an effect on the propensity of the university to generate ASO firms. Similarly, and in contrast to what the literature suggests, scientific productivity, context innovativeness and patenting experience also do not have a positive and significant effect on the propensity to generate spin‐offs. We find that ASO creation is influenced by the amount of public income, by past experience in creating spin‐offs and by the presence of a technology transfer office. This work contributes to our understanding of the differences between Italy and the Anglo‐Saxon countries in relation to the phenomenon of ASO creation and has some important implications for policy.

The determinants of academic patenting by Italian universities

This work investigates the determinants of patenting at Italian universities. We test the effect of public and external funds, in terms of commercial activity by universities, towards the propensity of universities to file patents at the European Patent Office. We then estimate the effect of several variables referring to the contextual characteristics of both university and localisation. The results suggest that, while in the southern regions of Italy commercial income bears a negative effect on the patenting activity of universities, in the other regions we register an important positive effect. We moreover find that the adoption of internal university regulations relating to patenting and the fact of being embedded in an innovative region are factors that exert a positive influence on the university rate of application for patents.

From services dealers to innovation brokers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategies business incubators (BI) adopt in respect to the creation of incubatee intellectual capital, and it focuses in particular on links between BI structural capital and the creation of incubatee relational capital (RC). By crossing IC literature with the open innovation paradigm the authors consider the incubator as an innovation intermediary and the authors investigate how different incubator strategies of knowledge exchange take place within and across incubator boundaries. The main issues the authors seek to explore regard the mechanisms by which incubators shape the exchange of knowledge within and across their boundaries and the rationale underlying such an approach. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on a multiple case study research involving five Italian incubators. Primary and secondary data were gathered through interviews with each incubator managing director and with relevant actors. Findings – The analysis allow...

The impact of hard and soft policy measures on new technology-based firms

ABSTRACT The impact of hard and soft policy measures on new technology-based firms. Regional Studies. Entrepreneurship policies in support of new technology-based firms fall into two main categories of intervention: hard measures (financial-type support such as loans and grants) and soft measures (counselling and business advice services). This study investigates the association between hard and soft support measures delivered to entrepreneurs, and the performance of the subsequently constituted new technology-based firms. The empirical framework analyses the outcomes of the Spinner Programme – a regional policy measure implemented in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna during 2000–06. The analysis finds that soft measures are positively related to a higher probability of exiting the market and to higher sales growth. The results also show that the magnitude of the effect of soft measures on growth is greater than the effect of hard measures.

Migration, ethnic concentration and firm entry: evidence from Italian regions

ABSTRACT There is a growing body of literature highlighting the positive contributions of migration and diasporas to economic growth, innovation and productivity. One of the channels facilitating these effects is entrepreneurship. This paper provides novel empirical evidence concerning the link between migration and firm entry across Italian regions during the period 2004–14, and it explores the role of ethnic concentration in this context. The results show that the stock of foreign population is positively correlated with firm entry. Furthermore, this relationship varies across business sectors and firms’ legal status, and it benefits from the existence of local networks within diaspora communities in the host region.

Dataset from a qualitative survey on Ph.D. entrepreneurship in Italy

This article describes questionnaire data on Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) entrepreneurship in Italy. The data includes (i) information recently collected via a questionnaire survey on Ph.D. students; (ii) background information on Italian academic institutions attended by students. We present here some descriptive statistics of the variables included in the dataset. The database includes the responses of 906 students. Students provided information on their employment condition, on their family background and opinions on the Ph.D. course and the institution they attended. Information on regional characteristics and on university policies are also included.

The Integration of Market and Science Logics for the Development of Academic Spin-offs

In an attempt to answer a recent call from the academic community and policy makers on the controversial role of academic spinoffs to economic development, this paper provides evidence on the contr...

The Impact of New Scientific Knowledge on Firms’ Routines and Capabilities: The Case of Mechatronics

Routines and capabilities are patterns of actions, entailing both stability and change, according to which organizational behavior is investigated and that rest at the base of firms’ competitive advantage. Research in organizational theory recently started to disentangle the micro-foundations of these collective concepts in order to better grasp the mechanisms by which individuals influence the generation and evolution of routines and capabilities. In the present work we seek to contribute to this literature by investigating how the acquisition of a radical new body of knowledge via recruitment impacts on the evolution of the routines and dynamic capabilities of the firm. By means of a multiple case study research on mechatronics companies located in Northern Italy, the study examines if and how the insertion of graduates in a discipline new to the company modified its routines and the dynamic capabilities. In other words we explored whether the introduction of a new body of knowledge embodied in new graduates produced changes on the organization and functioning of the hosting R&D department and/or it also shaped the overall firm’s development strategies, thus overcoming the expected inertia. The results are important for both managing change to increase the company’s competitive advantage as well for the policy implications which can be derived.