Spinning-off New Ventures from Academic Institutions in Areas with Weak Entrepreneurial Infrastructure: Insights on the Impact of Spin-off Processes on the Growth-orientation of Ventures

Abstract

We discuss the characteristics of academic "spin-off processes" in environments outside of high tech clusters and where technology transfer and entrepreneurship infrastructures have been weak. To identify their implications for venture formation, we studied the case of Belgium, gathering data from eight universities and forty-seven firms. We propose that spin-off processes in academic institutions affect the form and growth orientations of ventures.