Creating an Entrepreneurial Region: Two Waves of Academic Spin-offs from Halmstad University

Abstract

This article presents a Swedish case study of the regional effects of academic spin-offs. It is based on empirical data from Halmstad University and the Halmstad region, on the west coast of Sweden. The Halmstad case functions as an illustration of co-existing territorial and functional rationales, where a “rurban” lifestyle is combined with an increasingly “pracademic” knowledge. Spillover effects of university research (directly as well as indirectly) in the form of academic spin-offs have been traced over time. In doing so, we are able to identify two waves of academic entrepreneurship with direct and indirect regional effects. These waves contribute to the strengthening of the regional entrepreneurship and the attractiveness of the region. The establishment and (early) actions of the university can be seen as a stone that was thrown in the water, causing several waves to appear in the region. Whether these waves will be reinforced enough to create an entrepreneurial region, or just slowly disappear as rings on the water, also depends on the creation of an absorptive capacity and construction of the regional innovation system.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude to the FSF organization and to Sparbanksstiftelsen Kronan for providing the financial support which has made this study possible. We also wish to thank all the firms and individuals who have offered their time and knowledge necessary for us to collect the empirical data presented in this article. Finally, we are very happy to belong to the KEEN research group of Halmstad University and to RIDE at Chalmers University. Valuable comments and ideas have been generated by members of both these research centres. Thank you!

Notes

Network externalities may result from the value of a firm's capabilities being conditional upon the geographic proximity of complementary firms; knowledge externalities from when knowledge developed for any particular application spills over for use by a third-party firm; failure externalities from the value created for individuals and third-party firms, even in entrepreneurial firms that fail and, finally, learning externalities from the learning or demonstration effect emanating from entrepreneurial activities.