A Taxonomy of Knowledge Spillovers for High-Tech Start-ups Development

Entrepreneurship is considered of utmost importance for national economic and industrial growth. A leading theory related to economic development is the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship (KSTE), which aims to uncover the effects that economic agents have on the creation of new companies. By following the KSTE process, companies can commercialize and implement newly acquired knowledge in the market more quickly. Typically, economic growth evaluation is conducted at the country or regional level through global monitoring indexes, assessment on the generation of patents, and identification of the number of companies created. However, since knowledge is sometimes unattached to a physical document or item, it remains necessary to clarify a taxonomy and flow of knowledge spillovers at the individual level for start-ups in their first three to five years of development from the time that the company is funded. The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss possible strategies for evaluating the effects of knowledge spillovers on start-ups in high-tech sections which, in turn, will aid the decision-making process of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs).