Overcoming Weak Entrepreneurial Infrastructures for Academic Spin-Off Ventures

Byline: Jean-Jacques Degroof (1), Edward B. Roberts (2) Abstract: We discuss the characteristics of academic 'spin-off policies' in environments outside of high tech clusters and where technology transfer and entrepreneurship infrastructures have been weak. We explore whether the policies could explain the lack of growth potential of spin-off ventures that have repeatedly observed. We studied the case of Belgium, gathering data from nine of spin-off policies in the eight largest academic institutions and in 47 firms. We propose that spin-off policies in academic institutions significantly affect the growth potential of ventures. Author Affiliation: (1) MIT Industrial Performance Center, 292 Main Street Room E38-104, Cambridge, MA, 02139-4307 (2) MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA, 02139 Article History: Registration Date: 18/10/2004