University technology transfer and entrepreneurship as drivers of regional development: evidence from Korea

ABSTRACT

In recent years, research has focused on the role of universities as ‘entrepreneurial actors’ who transform academic knowledge and commercialise research in local economies. While there is empirical evidence to support the argument that technology transfer accelerates new venture formation, which in turn stimulates regional employment growth, there is little research on the structural influences of these three elements at the regional level. This study examines whether entrepreneurship induced endogenously from university technology transfer can predict entrepreneurship’s contribution to regional employment growth by applying the instrumental variables and two-stage least squares (IV-2SLS) for panel-data models. Our results confirm that university technology transfer promotes entrepreneurship and stimulates regional employment growth. Furthermore, we find that the quality of technologies transferred is more important than the quantity. This study contributes to filling the gaps in knowledge about the impact of university technology transfer on regional development by adding a causal relationship of entrepreneurship endogenously induced from university technology transfer.

KEYWORDS:

• Technology transfer
• entrepreneurship
• regional development
• regional employment growth
• new venture formation

JEL CODES:

• O32
• R11
• L26

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Konkuk University in 2020. The authors would like to thank to the Center of University Information Disclosure in Korea for providing data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data and material

Derived data supporting the findings of this study are generated at a central, large-scale facility, available from the Canter of University Information Disclosure in Korea on request.

Declaration of interest

The authors declare there are no competing financial, professional, or personal interests from other parties.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Konkuk University in 2020 (no. 2020-A019-0172).

Notes on contributors

Kang Ho Bong

Kang Ho Bong is currently a Ph.D. Candidate of management of technology at Konkuk University in Seoul, Republic of Korea. He has published nearly 20 papers in journals such as IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Asian Journal of Technology Innovation, Applied Economics Letters among others. He has received the President’s Award for outstanding graduate, in 2019 at Konkuk University.

Jihun Kwon

Jihun Kwon is currently a Ph.D. Candidate of management of technology at Konkuk University in Seoul, Republic of Korea. He is a deputy director at Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea and has more than fifteen years of insights experience working to formulate a policy in regarding to entrepreneurship, especially technology-based start-ups.

Jaemin Park

Jaemin Park is a professor of management of technology at Konkuk University in Seoul, Republic of Korea. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the Ohio State University. His research interests include economic analysis, business economics, and knowledge management. He has published more than 40 papers in journals such as Telecommunication Policy, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Asian Journal of Technology Innovation, Applied Economics Letters among others.