What factors contribute to the creation of spin-offs? The case of government-funded research institutes in Korea

ABSTRACT

Most prior studies did not consider government-funded research institutes (GRIs) as a mother institute of spin-offs. The objective of this study is to explore the GRI-level factors leading to the formation of spin-offs in Korea. We started our research with the following question: why do some GRIs create more spin-offs than others? In this regard, we derived hypotheses that link attributes, such as resources, capabilities, and policies, to the spin-off formation of GRIs. Based on panel data analysis using GRI-level data comprising spin-offs from 2011 to 2017, we examine the impact of knowledge assets and capabilities, technology licencing office capabilities, and policies for promoting commercialisation in the creation of spin-offs. The empirical results show that spin-off creation is influenced by the degree of patent utilisation, the budget of the technology licencing office, and the presence of an incubation centre. In particular, we find that the degree of patent utilisation plays a significant role in creating spin-offs.

KEYWORDS:

• Government-funded research institutes
• spin-offs
• technology licencing office
• knowledge assets and capability
• policies for promoting commercialisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Keun Tae Cho is a Professor in the Graduate School of Management of Technology at Sung Kyun Kwan University, Suwon-si, Korea. Cho is interested in major issues related to Management of Technology.

Dae Sig Park is majored in Management of Technology at Sung Kyun Kwan University and received a Ph.D. Park is working at the Korea Railroad Research Institute, Uiwang-si, Korea and is in charge of promoting spin-off activities.