University spin-off: what affects its creation and growth

University spin-offs are an important source of increasing the efficiency of the economy. However, the effect of their activities is not always significant for the development of country. This article gives an overview of the research on the subject of which factors influence the creation and development of spin-offs. It is shown that the entrepreneurial experience of founders and their social capital always have a positive influence on the creation of spin-offs, but their survival is also dependent on alternative sources of income. If the founders have the opportunity to work in the operating corporation or to implement large research projects, it adversely affects the probability of spin-off survival. The article refutes the conventional wisdom that the technical level of innovation always has a positive effect on its commercialization. Technically sophisticated innovation requires the economic environment to be more prepared and have better resources for implementation.

It is shown that the policy of university departments is more significant than previously thought. Ability and wish of department management to build a team, to attract external resources, to prioritize activities in such a way that developers have time for creation and development of spin-off have a significant impact.

Methodological shortcomings of studies of university spin-offs are as follows: first, the emphasis on quantitative methods to the detriment of case analysis; secondly, in some cases, relation is nonlinear, but it is ignored; third, the study found that a dichotomy of variables is too simple.