Regional Entrepreneurial Opportunities in the Biotech Industry: Exploring the Transition from Award-winning Nascent Entrepreneurs to Real Start-ups
Claus Michelsen, H. Wolf, Michael Schwartz
European Planning Studies,
2013
Abstract
Welche Faktoren beeinflussen maßgeblich die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass potenzielle bzw. werdende Unternehmensgründer (nascent entrepreneurs) ihre Gründungsabsicht tatsächlich umsetzen? Hierüber ist bislang kaum etwas bekannt. Das Wissen um die zentralen Einflussfaktoren ist jedoch von hoher Relevanz für die Ausgestaltung eines wirtschaftspolitischen Förderinstrumentariums. Existierende Studien legen einen Fokus auf personenspezifische Merkmale, lassen jedoch die regionale Komponente weitgehend unberücksichtigt. Ausgehend von der Annahme, dass Entrepreneurship stark ortsgebunden stattfindet, argumentiert der Beitrag, dass die Triebkräfte des Übergangs von nascent entrepreneurs zur faktischen Unternehmensgründung in regionalen Rahmenbedingungen (regional entrepreneurial opportunities) zu suchen sind. Diese Annahme wird anhand eines Datensatzes von 103 werdenden Gründern der deutschen Biotechnologiebranche empirisch überprüft. Dabei wird zugleich ein neues Maß der Erfassung von nascent entrepreneurs eingeführt. Dieses umfasst Akteure, die aktiv an einem oder mehreren Gründerwettbewerben teilgenommen haben und in mindestens einem Fall als Preisträger daraus hervorgegangen sind (award-winning nascent entrepreneurs). Unter Berücksichtigung technologischer und personenspezifischer Faktoren bestätigt das ökonometrische Modell in hohem Maße die aufgestellten Hypothesen. Demnach wird die Wahrscheinlichkeit, vom potenziellen zum tatsächlichen Gründer zu werden, stark von allgemeinen wie auch spezifischen regionalen Rahmenbedingungen beeinflusst. Zudem kann der Einfluss einer regionalen Gründerkultur bzw. eines positiven Gründerklimas auf die Übergangswahrscheinlichkeit nachgewiesen werden.
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Regional Entrepreneurial Opportunities in the Biotech Industry: Exploring the Transition from Award-winning Nascent Entrepreneurs to Real Start-ups
H. Wolf, Claus Michelsen, Michael Schwartz
Abstract
Knowledge of factors that determine the transition from nascent entrepreneurship into real entrepreneurship is of major importance for policies aiming to effectively stimulate start-ups. Whereas scholars concentrated on person-specific factors to explain transition probabilities, environmental characteristics have been fairly neglected. Given that entrepreneurship is a strongly localized phenomenon, this paper argues that regional entrepreneurial opportunities are a driving force behind the transition from nascent entrepreneurship to new venture creation. Based on unique data on 103 nascent entrepreneurs in the German biotechnology industry, we empirically assess the importance of regional entrepreneurial opportunities on transition probabilities. Further, we introduce a new
approach to measure nascent entrepreneurship by capturing individuals that actively participate in start-up competitions and have won at least one competition. Controlling for technology and individual characteristics, we find strong support for our hypotheses relating to the significant impact of general regional opportunities, specific regional opportunities and the entrepreneurial environment for the probability of transition from award-winning nascent entrepreneurs to real start-ups.
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Size and Focus of a Venture Capitalist's Portfolio
Paolo Fulghieri, Merih Sevilir
Review of Financial Studies,
Nr. 11,
2009
Abstract
We take a portfolio approach to analyze the investment strategy of a venture capitalist (VC) and show that portfolio size and scope affect both the entrepreneurs' and the VC's incentives to exert effort. A small portfolio improves entrepreneurial incentives because it allows the VC to concentrate the limited human capital on a smaller number of startups, adding more value. A large and focused portfolio is beneficial because it allows the VC to reallocate the limited resources and human capital in the case of startup failure and allows the VC to extract greater rents from the entrepreneurs. We show that the VC finds it optimal to limit portfolio size when startups have higher payoff potential - that is, when providing strong entrepreneurial incentives is most valuable. The VC expands portfolio size only when startup fundamentals are more moderate and when he can form a sufficiently focused portfolio. Finally, we show that the VC may find it optimal to engage in portfolio management by divesting some of the startups early since this strategy allows him to extract a greater surplus.
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Organization and Financing of Innovation, and the Choice between Corporate and Independent Venture Capital
Paolo Fulghieri, Merih Sevilir
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis,
Nr. 6,
2009
Abstract
This paper examines the impact of competition on the optimal organization and financing structures in innovation-intensive industries. We show that as an optimal response to competition, firms may choose external organization structures established in collaboration with specialized start-ups where they provide start-up financing from their own resources. As the intensity of the competition to innovate increases, firms move from internal to external organization of projects to increase the speed of product innovation and to obtain a competitive advantage with respect to rival firms in their industry. We also show that as the level of competition increases, firms provide a higher level of financing for externally organized projects in the form of corporate venture capital (CVC). Our results help explain the emergence of organization and financing arrangements such as CVC and strategic alliances, where large established firms organize their projects in collaboration with external specialized firms and provide financing for externally organized projects from their own internal resources.
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Getting out of the ivory tower – New perspectives on the entrepreneurial university
Jutta Günther, Kerstin Wagner
European Journal of International Management,
2008
Abstract
Based on theoretical considerations about the ‘third mission’ of
universities and the discussion of different types of university-industry relations, we conclude that the entrepreneurial university is a manifold institution with direct
mechanisms to support the transfer of technology from academia to industry
as well as indirect mechanisms in support of new business activities via
entrepreneurship education. While existing literature usually deals with one or
another linking mechanism separately, our central hypothesis is that direct and
indirect mechanisms should be interrelated and mutually complementary. We
emphasise the importance of a more holistic view of the entrepreneurial university
and empirically investigate the scope and interrelatedness of direct technology
transfer mechanisms and indirect mechanisms, such as entrepreneurship education
at German universities. We find a variety of activities in both fields and most
universities’ technology transfer facilities and the providers of entrepreneurship
education co-operate in support of innovative start-ups.
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Getting out of the Ivory Tower - New Perspectives on the Entrepreneurial University
Jutta Günther, Kerstin Wagner
Discussion Papers on Entrepreneurship and Innovation,
Nr. 2,
2007
Abstract
Based on theoretical considerations about the “third mission” of universities and the discussion of the nature of different university-industry relations, we conclude that the entrepreneurial university is a manifold institution with direct ways to transfer technology from academia to industry as well as indirect connections to industry via entrepreneurship education and training. While existing literature usually deals with one or another linking mechanism separately, our central hypothesises is that direct and indirect mechanisms should be interrelated and mutually complementary. We emphasize the importance of a more holistic view and empirically investigate the scope and interrelatedness of entrepreneurship education and direct technology transfer mechanisms at German universities. We find a variety of activities in both fields and evidence for an identification of HEI with the mission of knowledge commercialisation. Furthermore, it shows that the HEIs’ technology transfer facilities and the entrepreneurship education providers co-operate in support of the creation of spin-offs and innovative start-ups.
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