Multiple winners of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards have come under scrutiny by some in the public sector who claim that so-called SBIR mills fail to commercialize from their funded research. We examine this issue using data on a sample of SBIR awards awarded between 1992 and 2001. Consistent with the critique, we find a negative association between the overall number of previous SBIR awards and commercialization from a current SBIR-funded project. However, when we consider the number of previous SBIR awards related to the current project’s technology, we find a positive association thus suggesting previous technologically related awards increase the probability of commercialization. We extend the analysis beyond commercialization to patents and scientific publications related to the current award and find similar patterns of results. Our results also reinforce the finding of others that multiple SBIR awards are a heterogeneous metric.

Acting as a crucial link between academia and the business world, Academic Spin-Offs (ASOs) play a key role in translating innovative technologies from academic discoveries into commercial applications. Despite their potential for technological advancements, ASOs often struggle with challenges in financial performance and growth. Traditional explanations attribute these challenges to a lack of commercial resources and competencies. However, since ASOs often demonstrate prolonged survival, such explanations may not fully explain the paradox in ASOs’ outcomes. This paper offers a novel perspective, highlighting how non-economic goals, deeply ingrained in the academic context in which ASOs originate, shape their behavior and outcomes. These goals, related to the dimensions of control, identity, and emotions, go beyond financial gains, reflecting concerns that are specific to the academic environment. Integrating the organizational goals literature with insights from academic entrepreneurship research, we present a conceptual model describing the origins and nature of these goals and explain how they can help shedding light on some paradoxes in ASOs’ development, growth, and performance events. Our model bears significant implications for the academic entrepreneurship literature and related public policy.

Abstract It is found that private firms are withdrawing from basic research, as evidenced by the decline in the number of scientific papers written by authors who are inside of firms. On the other hand, scientific knowledge is becoming increasingly important in the industrial innovation process, so that accessing external scientific knowledge for science based innovation becomes critical to radical innovation at firm. This study conducts an empirical analysis of absorptive capacity required to realize radical innovations based on scientific knowledge. Specifically, by connecting bibliographic information of academic papers and patents with firm data from the Japanese National Innovation Survey, we analyze the type of absorptive capacity by the way to obtain external knowledge. The results show that internal R&D is important both for with and without collaboration with university, while human capital with experiences of scientific research in university is important, particularly for successful innovation through university collaboration.

Technology transfer offices (TTOs) play an increasingly important role in universities, supporting researchers in translating science knowledge into commercially and socially valuable outcomes. However, the literature is limited regarding how TTOs support the technology transfer process. This study contributes deeper insight into the role of TTOs in facilitating knowledge transfer outcomes. A case study of life science commercialization in Australasian universities drew on depth interviews with senior TTO managers and industry experts, on longitudinal participant observation within a life science intermediary business to inform about supply side elements, and on secondary data. The findings emphasise the effects of wider institutional change on quintuple helix (5H) stakeholders, i.e., the environment, society, government, universities, and industry. Financialization and competition places growing demands on universities for commercializable intellectual property (IP) production. In response, TTOs have built competencies in translational engagement (trust and reputation building and boundary spanning) and value co-creation (service quality management and de-risking). Those competencies translate to a five-stage process of technology transfer facilitation: (1) Identifying, (2) assessing, (3) protecting, (4) promoting and (5) profiting. In the complex context of life science innovation, innovation networks benefit from investment in university outreach, stakeholder relationship building, tax credits, and fund matching with transnational corporations. To ensure optimal social and commercial outcomes independent oversight of the process should be maintained, by representatives from all 5H stakeholders.

In the face of the challenges of rising demand and increasing economic pressure, medical service innovations and university hospitals are becoming increasingly important as cornerstones for the continuous development of medical care. Simultaneously, increasing technological complexity, scarce funding, and resource-intensive technology development are forcing university hospitals to open up their internal innovation processes. Numerous studies have highlighted the beneficial effects of cross-sectoral collaboration on the innovation performance of industrial entities, while neglecting the perspective of academic institutions. The impact of industry collaborations on the service innovativeness of university hospitals in particular has not been addressed in previous research. Although the potential for nonlinear effects of university-industry collaborations has been discussed in research, adequate evidence, particularly in the healthcare context, has not been provided. Therefore, this study addresses the questions: (1) What is the impact of university-hospital-industry collaboration (UHIC) on the service innovativeness of university hospitals? (2) Can a nonlinear relationship between UHIC and university hospitals' service innovativeness be empirically verified? The hypotheses are tested based on an unbalanced panel data set, which combines three distinct data sources and comprises annual observations from 2011 until 2019 of all German university hospitals. The findings indicate that the UHIC intensity has a positive effect on university hospitals’ service innovativeness with a one-year time lag. Furthermore, a negative quadratic UHIC effect was found. In doing so, this study complements existing research and opens the black box by uncovering the downside of cross-sectoral collaboration for a more complete understanding of the underlying dynamics of this growing area of research, with a particular focus on university hospitals.